Decentralization

Community

Solution Exchange for Decentralization

Community
Consolidated Reply
Query: Use of Panchayat Networks, from NIC, New Delhi
(Experiences).
Compiled by Alok Srivastava, Resource Person; additional research
by Happy Pant, Research Officer
17 February, 2006

Original Query: by M. Moni, National Informatics Centre, New Delhi

Posted 6 February, 2006

Dear Friends,

Information Technology has evolved, in recent years, as an effective tool for

development planning and administration. It cannot be emphasized enough that the
purpose to use IT and the groundwork needed to ‘feed’ this tool is critical to ensure
its successful application.

I work with the NIC and am closely involved with the implementation of the DISNIC-
PLAN (see
http://informatics.nic.in/try_dispnews.asp?newsid=112&module_number=oct_4 )
which intends using IT for micro-level planning and implementation of development
programmes, at the panchayat level. The objective of the DISNIC-PLAN is aimed at
building databases, decision support systems and communication systems to upgrade the
production potential of villages.

Apart from using the wired panchayat networks for information collection and
analysis, there are many other uses to which these networks can be gainfully put to.
There have been experiences of using such wired and wireless IT networks for
effective communication, development planning and supplying useful information to
the local population.

Could members share their experiences and knowledge regarding efforts made
anywhere in the country by Panchayats who have used these network for their
development planning and administration requirements?
 2

Responses were received, with thanks, from:

1. Kris Dev, Life Line To Business, Chennai (Response1) (Response2)

(Response 3)
2. Alok Srivastava, UNDP, New Delhi
3. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Department of Information Technology,
Government of Maharashtra
4. Ramit Basu, National Social Watch Coalition, New Delhi
5. T R Raghunandan, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, New Delhi
6. Ranjit Kr. Maiti, P&RD Dept, Govt. of West Bengal, Kolkata
7. Barenyo Chowdhury, ORG India, Kolkata
8. Happy Pant, UNDP, New Delhi
9. Surendra N Tripathi, Departments of PR & IT, Govt. of Orissa,
Bhubaneswar
10. Charru, IIPA, New Delhi
11. Ashok kumar Paikaray, Mahavir Yubak Sangh, Bhubaneswar

Further contributions are welcome!

Summary of Responses

Citing numerous IT initiatives taken in panchayats and rural areas, contributors have
discussed the potential for using IT networks in panchayats, factors critical for their
effective usage, issues crucial for their sustainability, causes responsible for
unfulfilled potential in e-governance at panchayat level, and finally suggestions for
realising it effectively. As explained by members, panchayats have effectively used
their networks to improve their own systems like that for accounting management to
speedier delivery of citizens’ services.

Members, while giving examples of many successful panchayat IT initiatives, have

pointed to a variety of uses that such networks have been put to. Those mentioned
are Integrated Fund Monitoring & Accounting System, Gram Panchayat
Management System at panchayat samity and gram panchayat level and a pilot
project under NEGP in Burdwan in West Bengal. (see details) and E-Panchayat in
Andhra Pradesh, which provides speedier and more efficient delivery of citizens’
services. The National Panchayat Portal (NPP) aims at developing dynamic
websites for 2,40,000 panchayats in the country, and building national net –
community of gram panchayats by interlinking them. This would open up many more
possibilities of sharing of IT resources among panchayats.

Apart from the actual uses that panchayat networks have been put to, members
have also given a list of uses that they could be effectively put to. These
services/uses range from licensing and no objection certificates for trade, running of
shops and hotels; construction permission, property ownership records &
certification, grievance petitions regarding civic services to providing ration cards,
pensions etc. through panchayats. It has been pointed out that with back-end
computerization by government departments/agencies there is a very good
possibility of integrating their services, viz. agricultural crop guidance, agricultural
 3

pricing, tele-medicine, Right to Information etc. in the menu of services being

provided to the villagers to collection of house tax and utility bills, to serving the
information needs of farmers for cultivation practices, pests and disease control,
marketing information on agricultural produce, and auction rates etc.

Benefits and Advantages

In citing the vast range of services that panchayat IT networks are providing (or could
provide) to the rural populace, respondents have also, inter alia, mentioned the broad
benefits that accompany such projects/initiatives:
• Keeping the gram sabha informed through dissemination of agenda,
resolutions, voting record etc; circulating proceedings of gram sabhas and action
taken reports; dissemination of family surveys, property lists, BPL lists, pensions,
censuses; data on delivery of services in education, health, water and sanitation;
database on panchayat members and staffing details.
• Improving the quality, speed and sensitivity of the state delivery
apparatus, enhanced participation of citizens in community affairs, assistance to
disadvantaged groups and increased transparency and better governance
through creative use of IT.

The responses have also brought up a number of factors critical for the
successful operation of IT networks and IT-based initiatives:
• Projects to be designed to meet real needs, and to provide relevant, timely and
authentic information.
• Building financial sustainability in the project (cost sharing Public-Private
Partnership model being used for CSCs or user charges concept of Gyandoot
project are good examples)
• Back-end computerisation by government departments/agencies to be integrated
with the panchayat networks to provide relevant content in digital form
(attempted through CSCs).
• Reliable Internet connectivity upto village level (wireless technologies like WI-FI
and WIMAX hold good promise of providing connectivity at affordable cost)
• Capacities to operate and maintain the hardware and software skills.

Members have also provided details of IT initiatives in rural areas that may also
find application, mutatis mutandis in the panchayats. The successful ones mentioned
are: Gyandoot in Madhya Pradesh, which have been set up in collaboration with
panchayats, (see more), Samadhan Kendras at some places in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu and Pondicherry. Projects like ITC e-Choupal, Manav Sadhan Vikas Sanstha,
Warana Wired Village Project, and internet initiatives such as Coffee Planters’ Kiosks,
ITC project are bringing farmers’ in the ambit of internet usage, simultaneously
providing them useful information and services. An interesting project of the
Ministry of Information Technology, to establish Common Service Centres (CSCs) in
100000 villages, is on the anvil.

Members have also provided valuable suggestions for tackling difficulties/critical

issues in order to ensure the workability of these IT projects. These include
developing state specific models with panchayats’ participation that are simple, low
on technology and may not be critically dependent on connectivity; backing these
with strong infrastructural support system. As a positive outcome of the interaction,
members have displayed interest in the National Panchayat Portal (know more) and
web-enabled paperless office tool cited by some respondents. A member has come
forward and offered to customize the e-administration solution to suit the
requirements of panchayats.
 4

Quite interestingly, some members have discussed the crucial issues related to
management aspect of panchayat e-governance - having a gram panchayat
level offline timely data capture module; user friendliness through language,
authenticity and operators’ credibility; regular information pooling up and rolling
down, availability of uninterrupted electricity and telecom connection, and hardware
and software O&M support etc. As also mentioned, an important aspect relates to
the building in of financial sustainability in these projects

Various panchayat and rural e-governance initiatives from across the country cited by
members, which provide good insight into their working and replicability are given
below.

Examples

All India

National Panchayat Portal (from TR Raghunandan, Ministry of Panchayati Raj,

New Delhi)
The National Panchayat Portal aims at developing dynamic websites for 2,40,000
panchayats in the country, and building national net – community of gram
panchayats by interlinking them. As per envisaged plan states would have the option
to choose scope and sequence on the basis of suggested models, and panchayats
would be selected on priority based on criteria such as regional coverage, mix of
strong and weak panchayats, availability of infrastructure etc.

Common Service Centres (CSCs) (from Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Department of IT,
Government of Maharashtra)
Ministry of IT, Government of India is in the process of formulation of a plan to
establish CSCs in 100000 villages in the country. These CSCs, based on Public-
Private-Partnership model, would be providing one-stop stop citizen services to
people in villages. Initially several services such as grant of certificates of birth and
death, caste, and income, land records and collection of house tax and utility bills
are proposed to be provided. Later, as and when back-end computerization of various
departments/ agencies are done, their services will also be included in the CSCs –
such as agricultural and crop guidance, agricultural pricing, tele-medicine, RTI etc.

ITC e-Choupal (From Barenyo Chowdhury, ORG India, Kolkata)

Launched in June 2000, 'e-Choupal', has already become the largest initiative among
all Internet-based interventions in rural India. It was specifically designed to tackle
the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture, is an efficient
supply chain aimed at delivering value to its customers around the world on a
sustainable basis. Read more

Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry

Samadhan Kendra Initiative (from Ramit Basu, National Social Watch Coalition,
New Delhi)
Samadhan Kendra, though originally set up in few regions of the country by the
Ministry of Information Technology, is not a typical state run IT initiative. It has a
dynamic and user friendly website in the local dialect with all relevant information
that are of use to the villagers, as Local requirements were taken into consideration.
Not only was the assistance through the IT means, but computer education to the
 5

village youth turned out to be a great boost for the programme to spread to other
areas and villagers coming to know about its efficacy.

Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry

Web-enabled Solution for e-administration (from Kris Dev, Life Line To Business,
Chennai)
It is a web enabled, paper-less office tool, using open source tools such as Java, JBoss
as back-end, all running on Linux in government organizations in the state. It has
transformed the work culture of government organizations as all incoming letters are
first scanned and digitized to move electronically and attach to e-Files which get
instant approval and outward letters sent. This has improved the service level and
cut down the average process time by 50%.

Madhya Pradesh

Gyandoot (from Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Department of IT, Government of

Maharashtra and Alok Srivastava, UNDP)
Initiated in Dhar district, Gyandoot is an intranet network under which 20 kiosks
(called soochanalayas) were initially set up in various rural centres. Each
Soochanalaya caters to approximately15 Gram Panchayats and about 25-30 villages.
Each kiosk would typically serve a population of 20,000-30,000 villagers and be run
by a trained operator to provide a range of services for a nominal service charge,
thus making information & services freely available and more transparent. See the
website at http://gyandoot.nic.in/

Maharashtra

From Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Department of IT, Government of Maharashtra

Warna Wired Village Project, Kolhapur and Sangli Districts

The joint project of NIC, Maharashtra government and Warna Cooperative Society
covers a cluster of 70 villages from Kolhapur and 24 villages from Sangli district of
the state with the objective of serving the information needs of farmers for cultivation
practices, pests and disease control, marketing information and information on
processing, bill payment position of sugarcane and dairy products. This wide area
network has VSAT connectivity and dial-up connections. All villages are linked with
the directorate of marketing in Pune, which facilitates farmers in getting information
on rates of vegetables, fruits and other crops.

Manav Sadhan Vikas Sanstha (MSVS), Rajapur

In Rajapur parliamentary constituency, 105 NGOs have been brought under a
platform called MSVS, which translates all government schemes on rural
development into local languages and makes them available through pamphlets and
the Internet, now available in villages. Internet training centres facilities are provided
for e-commerce applications especially for fishermen in the area who can learn about
weather patterns, market prices etc

Karnataka

E-Governanace in Bellandur Gram Panchayat (from TR Raghunandan, Ministry

of Panchayati Raj, Government of India)
Bellandur gram panchayat, made up of five small villages, was the first local body in
the country to have computerized its operations. Bellandur digitized all its land
records as an initiative taken by the gram panchayat itself. The panchayat put it in its
 6

own money to buy PCs, and set up the system. Bellandur boasts of a number of IT
engineers, as well as a couple of IT companies.

West Bengal

Software for all levels of panchayats (from Ranjit Kr Maiti, P & RD Dept, Kolkata)
E-governance projects are being implemented at panchayat samity and gram
panchayat level; examples are Integrated Fund Monitoring & Accounting System,
Gram Panchayat Management System and the pilot project under NEGP in Burdwan.
Zila parishads have also been included under the accounting software developed for
the panchayat samities and zila parishad within the new accounts rules w.e.f 1 st
January 2003. Read about it .

Pondicherry

E-platform for industrial guidance (from Kris Dev, Life Line To Business, Chennai)
The e-Platform for the Industrial Guidance Bureau, Govt. of Pondicherry, integrates on
a single platform, 19 departments including Panchayats and Municipalities, for
granting time bound clearance for setting-up of industries in Pondicherry, by the
District Industries Centre and Directorate of Industries and Commerce, Govt. of
Pondicherry. (See more)

Andhra Pradesh

E-panchayat (from Happy Pant, UNDP, New Delhi)

The project introduced IT in village panchayats in various districts of the state for
better delivery of citizens’ services through computerization of all the functions of
panchayats. The project software provides web-based interface to the citizen to
transact with gram panchayats through kiosks. E-Panchayat comprises nearly 30
main modules for Birth and Death Registrations, House Tax Collections, Trade
Licenses, Pensions, Works Monitoring, Financial Accounting; MIS for Panchayat
Administration are being done in the computerized e-Panchayat system. See more

Identified by Happy Pant, Research Officer

Assam

E-Suvidha
The service is being offered in two blocks-Birsing Jarua and Agomoni-in Dhubri district
of Assam. The citizen-centric services include certified copy of electoral roll, land-
holding certificate, income certificate for service holder, and income certificate for
farmers.

Goa

Info Gram
An IT solution that is supposed to cover village panchayat activities such as water
supply, public health, family welfare, sanitation, construction and maintenance of
roads, street lighting, registration of births and deaths, tax collection. Aasthi,
Samanya Mahiti, Aashraya (Karnataka): Aasthi is a property tax module for Gram
Panchayats. Samanya Mahiti is a general information system capturing data on about
350 parameters at the habitation level. Aashraya monitors the physical and financial
progress of housing schemes offered by the Rural Housing Corporation. Touch-screen
kiosks are being used for information access.
 7

Kerala

SWIFT
Single Window Interface For Taluks (SWIFT) deals with certificates required for jobs,
legal benefits, identities, and so on. As there are about 25 types of certificates issued
from Taluk offices, people can apply for a certificate at a SWIFT counter.

Orissa

PriaSoft
The Panchayati Raj Institutions Accounting Software (PriaSoft) is being used to
monitor the accounts of district, block, and village panchayats.

Related Resources

Recommended Documentation

From M Moni, NIC, New Delhi

DISNIC-PLAN (from, New Delhi)

http://informatics.nic.in/try_dispnews.asp?newsid=112&module_number=oc
t_4
Disnic plan is a NICNET based distributed database for micro-level planning in
India

Approach paper on Mainstreaming ICT for Grassroots Level Planning

http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/decn/resource/res_info_28110502.doc (344
KB)
The paper discusses the issue of providing necessary planning and monitoring
tool to PRIs.

Integrated e-Platform (from Kris Dev, Life Line To Business, Chennai)

http://www.pon.nic.in/open/depts/finance/lgspeech2004.pdf (120 KB)
The e-platform substitutes single window clearance system to speed up the
process of industrial clearance/ permission for setting up of new industrial
units.

E-governance for panchayats (from TR Raghunandan, Ministry of Panchayati

Raj, New Delhi)
http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/decn/cr/res17020601.ppt
The presentation illustrates ideas on positioning IT as support system for
panchayats explaining the range of services that are provided by them

Integrated Fund Monitoring and Accounting System (IFMS) and Gram

Panchayat Management System (GPMS) (from Ranjit Kr Maiti, P & RD Dept,
Kolkata)
http://www.egovawards2006.in/137.%20SDN%20WB%20COMPUTERISATION%20OF%
20PANCHAYATS.pdf (89KB)
GPMS was the software developed for Gram Panchayat and IFMS for
Panchayat Samiti & Zilla Parisahd to help give a modern direction to service
delivery by PRIs to stakeholders.

From Alok Srivastava, UNDP

 8

E panchayat Initiative
http://panchayat.nic.in/epanchayat2906.ppt
PPT presentation on the project for delivery of citizen services in the villages
through computerization of gram panchayat

Exclusive web portals for gram panchayats – News Story

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/22/stories/2006012213280400.htm
The article talks about the e-bridging exercise between rural and urban
Andhra Pradesh by equipping all gram panchayats in the State with exclusive
web portals.

From Happy Pant, Research Officer

E-Panchayat Software Information

http://orissagov.nic.in/panchayat/EPANCHAYAT.pdf (269KB)
Details the software product developed by NIC, Andhra Pradesh taking into
consideration all the information and knowledge management requirements
in a Gram Panchayat.

E- governance by Kerala panchayat

http://darpg.nic.in/content/upload/EgovExp69.doc (23KB)
Talks about panchayats in Ernakulam adopting e-governance model under
decentralized planning to augment capacities of those involved in
decentralized planning programme.

Recommended Organizations

National Informatics Centre (from M Moni, New Delhi)

http://www.nic.in/
NIC is a premier IT organization in India which provides state-of-the-art,
solutions for the IT needs of the Government at all levels

Life Line to Business, Chennai (from Kris Dev, Chennai)

Contact Kris Dev (krisdev@gmail.com) at B4, Ashok Suparna, 27/12, 3rd Main Road,
Kasturiba Nagar, Adyar, Chennai-600020
Life Line to Business is a company that provides e-administration solutions
fo0r paperless office.

National Centre for Human Settlements & Environment, Bhopal (from Ramit
Basu, National Social Watch Coalition, New Delhi)
http://www.nchse.com/index2.htm
Contact: E-5/A, Girish Kunj, Arera Colony, Bhopal, 462016, Ph: 0755-65306, 463731,
277074
An NGO working for the cause of environmental protection and developmental aspects,
as well as, for the welfare of the needy, poor, the down trodden.

Centre for Ecology and Rural Development, Pondicherry (from Ramit Basu,
National Social Watch Coalition, New Delhi)
Contact: 46, Second Street, P.R. Gardens, Reddiarpalayam, Pondicherry-605010;
Phone: 0413-200908,200733, E-mail: cerd@satyam.net.in.
 9

CERD is a trust funded by Pondicherry Science Forum to undertake

development activities contributing to science movement's intervention in
area of developmental policy

Centre for Electronic Governance, Ministry of Information and Technology,

Govt. of India (From Happy Pant, Research Officer)
http://www.mit.gov.in/eg/locentre.htm
Website features the Centre for e-governance, set up by MIT, Govt. of India,
which showcases applications by IT majors like C-DAC, CMC, IQ Virtuals, MS,
NIC & Oracle.

Recommended Websites

National Panchayat Portal (NPP) (from T R Raghunandan, Ministry of Panchayati

Raj, New Delhi)
http://panchatat.nic.in
Illustrates the vision of Ministry of Panchayati Raj on linking of all panchayats
to NPP, a software solution framework for managing content for local
governance.

Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India (from Alok Srivastava,

UNDP)
http://rural.nic.in/
Website of the Ministry of Rural Development – gives details of IT in
Panchayats and ICT initiatives in rural areas

From Happy Pant, Research Officer

Website of Ramachandra Puram gram panchayat, Medak district, Andhra

Pradesh
http://ekpanch.ap.nic.in/pls/gpwebsitedemo/esuvidha
Provides panchayat & ward members’ names, downloadable application forms
pertaining to citizens services as registration of birth/death, house tax,
licenses, grievance etc.

Useful web links on e-Governance

http://www.iitd.ac.in/iceg/links.html
It offers useful links on numerous e-governance reports, best practices guide
and provides a picture of status of different e-governance projects in different
states of India.

Recommended Consolidated Replies

Sustainable Agricultural Extension Systems, from ADB, New Delhi
(Comparative experiences)
Consolidated Reply (254 KB)
This Consolidated Reply posted on the Food & Nutrition Security Community
of Solution Exchange deal with replicable Agricultural Extension models that
can be sustainable.

Responses in Full
 10

Kris Dev, Life Line To Business, Chennai

Response 1

I am thrilled to see your initiatives.

We at Life Line to Business (LL2B) have implemented, a paper less communication

and work flow solution, developed using open source tools, that can be very
effectively used by Panchayats and the district administration, for creating a virtual
network for development planning and monitoring the progress, leading to higher
productivity in villages and quick redressal of grievances.

The customized e-Platform for the Industrial Guidance Bureau, Govt. of Pondicherry,
integrates on a single platform, 19 departments including Panchayats and
Municipalities, for granting time bound clearance for setting-up of industries in
Pondicherry by the District Industries Centre and Directorate of Industries and
Commerce, Govt. of Pondicherry. You may like to see the Budget 2004-2004 address
to the State assembly of the Lt. Governor of Pondicherry: http://pondicherry.nic.in and
http://www.pon.nic.in/open/depts/finance/lgspeech2004.pdf (Please see Para 20).

Life Line to Business (LL2B.COM), has implemented, 'e-Administration', a web

enabled, paper-less office tool, using OPEN SOURCE tools such as Java, JBoss with
PGSQL as backend, all running on Linux in Govt. organizations in Chennai and
Pondicherry. The implementation of the tool has transformed the work culture of
Government organizations and all employees right from the lowest clerk to the
highest official have embraced the tool, as it simplifies their working and makes life
easy for everyone. All incoming letters are scanned and digitized and from then on
move electronically and attached to e-Files which get instant approval and outward
letters sent. This has dramatically improved the service level and cut down the
average process time by 50%. We can share this tool with interested members

I would be interested in knowing more about initiatives where panchayat networks

are being used for gainful purposes.

Alok Srivastava, UNDP, New Delhi

I would like to relate an account of the initiative “Gyandoot” that was taken in the
state of Madhya Pradesh, as an example of use of IT networks in rural areas.
Panchayats could adapt use a model based on the experiences in the project. Madhya
Pradesh state has been a leader in the promotion of local self-governance at the
village level. Under Gyandoot, 20 kiosks –soochanalayas- were initially set up in
various rural centres. Each kiosk would typically serve a population of 20,000-30,000
villagers and run by a trained operator to provide a range of services for a nominal
service charge, thus making information and services more available and more
transparent.

The formally-stated objectives of the project were:

-Ensuring empowerment of the downtrodden segments of the society and to enhance
transparency.
-Creating a cost-effective, replicable and financially-viable model for taking the
benefits of information technology to the rural masses.
-Improving the quality, speed and sensitivity of the state delivery apparatus towards
the needs of the local citizen.
 11

−Enhanced participation in community affairs and governance through creative use of

information technology.
−Implementing a new grass-root entrepreneurial model with participation of groups of
non-traditional entrepreneurs.

The services offered were:

-Commodity Marketing Information Services. Prices and volumes of the local mandis
(markets) of Dhar, Badnawar and Indore as well as principal national agricultural
produce markets were provided daily. Prices of crops like soybean, wheat, gram and
various horticulture products were quoted on the site. The local mandi rates and
volumes were quoted in the morning around 11:00 am and at evening around the
end of transactions. For other mandis, rates were quoted once a day.
-Land Records. Cultivators need land records (khasra) for crop loans from banks. All
local banks (Central Cooperative Bank, the Land Development Bank, Bank of India,
State Bank of India, Bank of Indore, etc.) accepted the duly issued printouts of land
records given at Soochanalaya for the purposes of their transactions.
-Registration of Applications. Applications for caste, income and domicile (mool
nivasi) certificates, demarcations (seemankan) and landholders passbook of land
records and loans (bhoo adhikar evam rin pustika) could be e-mailed. E-mail reply
was to be sent to the Soochanalaya on certificate being ready to be picked up.
-Public Grievances. Complaints regarding common public grievances could be sent
via Gyandoot with an e-mail reply assured within seven days. Complaints included
water hand pump disorder, teacher absence, mid-day meal, scholarship
sanction/disbursement, poor seed/fertilizer and employee establishment program
matters (like leave or provident fund sanction) queries.
-Hindi E-mail. Paperless Hindi e-mail communication was transacted between
connected village level institutions, Block/District offices and
Panchayat/Education/Health management information systems (PMIS, EMIS & HMIS).

Gyandoot is one of relatively few e-transparency projects to have made a specific

effort at trying to assist disadvantaged groups. This is seen in the choice of location
(Dhar is a relatively poor, relatively rural district); in the identity of users targeted by
information and service design; and in the identity of the kiosk operators (who were
selected from disadvantaged groups). In part, some of its identified problems derive
from – and can arguably be offset against – its attempt to reach out to the poor.

The factors that spell success/failure for such initiatives are: Need of a Top-level
champion, Cost sharing, Meeting real citizen needs, Provision of Infrastructure,
Avoiding Process delays, and building in Financial sustainability. It is important to
focus on involving communities and sustainability for such projects to succeed in the
long run.

Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Department of Information Technology, Government

of Maharashtra

A number of initiatives have been taken across the country to use IT in the rural
areas for land records, citizen services and agriculture. Some of them are:

Warna Wired Village Project:

Warna Wired Village Project in Maharashtra covers a cluster of 70 villages from
Kolhapur and 24 villages from Sangli district. It is jointly implemented by NIC,
Maharashtra government and Warna Cooperative Society. The objective is to serve
 12

the information needs of farmers for cultivation practices, pests and disease control,
marketing information and information on processing, bill payment position of
sugarcane and dairy products. This wide area network (WAN) has VSAT connectivity
and dial-up connections. All villages are linked with the directorate of marketing in
Pune, which facilitates farmers in getting information on rates of vegetables, fruits
and other crops.

Manav Sadhan Vikas Sanstha (MSVS):

In Rajapur parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra, 105 non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) have been brought under a platform called Manav Sadhan Vikas
Sanstha (MSVS). MSVS translates all government schemes on rural development into
local languages and makes them available through pamphlets and the Internet, now
available in villages. Internet training centres are being planned with facilities for e-
commerce applications especially for fishermen in the area who, like their
counterparts in Pondicherry, can learn about weather patterns, market prices.

Gyandoot:
The community-owned 'Gyandoot' project in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh provides
through Soochanalaya kiosks information on agriculture produce, auction rates, land
records etc. It is a low cost user-charge-based-services and the expense of running it
is being borne by panchayats and the communities.

Coffee Planters Internet Kiosks

Coffee prices, which are at record 30 year low have prompted ITC to launch a portal
(plantersnet.com) for coffee planters that provides prices and market information.
The portal will have Internet booths setup in the 6 – 12 months time frame to provide
international coffee prices and market information to coffee growers.

ITC
ITC launched a project this year to bring the Internet to Indian farmers by setting up
kiosks. It plans to spend Rs 10 crore ($2.14 million) on the project. ITC has set up
some 100 Internet kiosks in Madhya Pradesh, the country's soybean bowl besides
launching a soya portal. ITC's International Business Division deals in feed ingredients
such as soymeal and rapeseed, foodgrains, coffee and marine products.

Based on these experiences, Ministry of IT, Government of India (GoI) is in the

process of formulation of a plan to establish Common Service Centres (CSCs) in
100000 villages in the country. These CSCs, based on Public-Private-Partnership
model, will provide one-stop stop citizen services to people in villages. Initially
several services such as grant of certificates of birth and death, caste, and income,
land records and collection of house tax and utility bills are proposed to be provided.
Later, as and when back-end computerization of various departments/ agencies are
done, their services will also be included in the CSCs – such as agricultural and
crop guidance, agricultural pricing, tele-medicine, Right to Information etc.

Using IT for rural community has several challenges. Internet connectivity is a major
issue. As of now, Internet connectivity beyond talukas is unavailable in most places.
BSNL and other internet service providers have laid optical fibers mostly upto taluka
levels. In the present scenario it is not economically viable to lay optical fiber cables
upto villages because of lack of demand. However, recent advances in the field of
wireless technologies such Wi-FI, WIMAX etc hold good promises for extending
connectivity upto the villages at an affordable rates. It is expected that just like cell
phones have reached rural India, wireless broadband too will emerge as a viable
solution for rural connectivity.
 13

The other challenge is content. Even if we provide connectivity to the villages, what
will the villagers use the kiosk for? If the content that should come from the various
departments and agencies are not ready in digital form, then usage of such kiosks
will be very limited. Therefore, while efforts are being made to provide internet
connectivity to villages, it is necessary that departments and agencies which aim at
providing services through these CSCs should in parallel work on back-end
computerization and developing contents.

Ramit Basu, National Social Watch Coalition, New Delhi

Analogous to the 'Gyandoot' project in MP which has been quoted by Alok, I would
refer to the Samadhan Kendra initiatives originally set up by the Ministry of
Information Technology through development agencies in few regions of the country
like MP, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry.

The Samadhan Kendra had a website of its own in the local dialect with all relevant
information that are of use to the villagers. Very much like that with the Gyandoot,
but Samadhan Kendra had a certain degree of autonomy of making its website more
dynamic and user friendly as it was not a typical state run IT initiative. Local
requirements were taken into consideration.

Not only was the assistance through the IT means, but computer education to the
village youth turned out to be a great boost for the programme to spread to other
areas and villagers coming to know about its efficacy. It becomes very important to
undertake computer related awareness in backward areas and to convince people
about its advantages which help in creating further awareness. Further details can
be obtained from Dr. D.P. Singh or Dr. Krishnakant from the Ministry of Information
Technology, or from National Centre for Human Settlements & Environment, Bhopal;
CERD Pondicherry.

In fact connecting the panchayats can only be possible when there is a strong
support of infrastructure at that level with block and district level connectivity or else
the utility will be wasted as has happened in some regions.

The corDECT technology developed by IIT Chennai and n-logue communication

systems Chennai has been found useful in a couple of circumstances.

T R Raghunandan, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, New Delhi

There are several very useful paper-less and less paper solutions that are being used
in various government environments, but I do not know of any that are operational in
the Panchayat context. Unfortunately, most Panchayat e-governance initiatives are
either spontaneously generated by one or the other Panchayat, (for example,
Bellandur Gram Panchayat in Karnataka and Panchayats in West Bengal) or systems
designed by outside agencies, for what we think, is important for Panchayats. The
latter kind of projects are done in the name of Panchayats, and not for them. The
unfulfilled potential of Panchayat e-governance continues because we do not sit down
with them and design a project specifically for their use (this has to be a state
specific exercise). Most of the e-governance solutions for Panchayats have to be
simple, low on technology and may not (as opposed to the popular impression)
depend critically on connectivity.
 14

I have a small presentation on ‘E-governance for Panchayats’ (it can be viewed at

http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/decn/cr/res17020601.ppt). Members might
find it useful; I would particularly suggest slides number 5 to 7, which explain the
range of services that are provided by most gram Panchayats - these would be the
subject of paperless solutions. It would be great if any of the members can work on
paperless solutions for Panchayats - maybe we can pilot it in some willing State.

Kris Dev, Life Line To Business, Chennai

Response 2

I refer to my previous reply wherein I had mentioned an e-administration paperless

communication solution developed by us. In response to Mr. Raghunandan’s reply I
would like to offer to customize the e-administration solution to suit the requirements
of panchayats.

Ranjit Kr. Maiti, P&RD Dept, Govt. of West Bengal, Kolkata

In West Bengal we are implementing e-Gov projects at Panchayat Samiti (PS) and
Gram Panchayat (GP) level. We have covered 60 Panchayat Samities for Integrated
Fund Monitoring and Accounting System and set up Gram Panchayat Management
System in 144 GPs. Besides we have already covered 14 Zilla Parishads out of 18 for
the Accounting software developed both for the PS and ZP within the New Accounts
Rules w.e.f. 1.4.2003.

Some of the other initiatives in e-governance at the panchayat level are:

• Recently under National e-Governance Programme (NeGP) a pilot project is

going on in Burdwan district which will cover 31 PS, 277 GPs of that district
with connectivity up to GPs under West Bengal State Wide Area Network
(WBSWAN). Under NEGP all the PSs are to be connected by 31st Dec 2006.
• Citizen Service Centres are being piloted in 13 GPs of 6 districts for testing the
contents and also to assess the needs of the people so that we can customise
the content according to the needs. The CSCs are to deliver services of
various categories but this will be a continuous one depending on the needs of
the people and also on the connectivity.
• The softwares developed for the GPs covers public services like Birth and
Death Certificates, Trade certificates, Assessment of taxes- collection thereof,
Annual plan, General information about the GP areas,

If you would like to have a look into our softwares so far developed for GP, PS and ZP,
we can send you the synoptic views for information.

Barenyo Chowdhury, ORG India, Kolkata

Thanks for sharing the excellent model of national panchayat portal, but could you
share with us the revenue model which would possibly be required for sustenance.
My concern is that these should not become static web pages.

Number of visits to a site is decided by the relevance and timeliness of the

information. For e-governance the authenticity of the information is of paramount
 15

importance to the users. Hence data collation and uploading are two very crucial
issues which have a recurring cost attached. A self funded / financed revenue model
would perhaps be better than the proliferation of Information Technology horizon with
only “technology” and very little “information”.

For example, population figures in the district portals of NIC selectively still use 1991,
2001 (provisional) and 2001 (final) data, using the “most recent data” when the site
was created. This is an information updation lethargy one would notice on corporate,
voluntary and government sites also (lest we blame government alone). Would it not
be pertinent to have a GP level offline timely data capture module to ensure
"information" availability first, as annual audits of the GPs are not always undertaken,
here too there may be information lag coupled with lethargy. Technology and
connectivity are controllable problem.

The other issues to be reviewed for obtaining the economies of scale and cost
optimisation:
• Regular information pooling up and rolling down (access and security)
• Availability of infrastructural support (uninterrupted electricity & telecom
connection)
• Availability of Hardware & software skills for operation & maintenance
• User friendliness (language, authenticity & availability of the hardcopy,
operators’ credibility)

I am sure such beginnings would lead to experiences similar to a VSNL / BSNL,

actively perusing retail sales (both once monolith “you are in queue” supply
provider). Soon perhaps a franchisee of “NPP powered by NIC (a powerhouse
already)” – would be a rural household name (like ITC e-chaupal) providing authentic
e-governance support with a “how may I help you” smile when a villager visits after
his days work, avoiding to walk couple of hours to the block office next day for
information on employment under NREGA – as an alternative to the local labour
contractor.

Happy Pant, UNDP, New Delhi

Members may be aware about the E-panchayat project of the Department of

Panchayati Raj & Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh. The project
conceptualized with a view to introducing IT in village panchayats is implemented in
several panchayats in various districts of the state for better delivery of citizens’
services in villages through computerization of all the functions of panchayats. The
project software provides web-based interface to the citizen to transact with gram
panchayats through kiosks. E-Panchayat comprises nearly 30 main modules in line
with the sectoral functions of the gram panchayats to facilitate provision of several
information services. Internet based services for Birth and Death Registrations, House
Tax Assessment Collections, Trade Licenses, Old Age Pensions, Works Monitoring,
Financial Accounting; MIS for Panchayat Administration are being executed in the
computerized e-Panchayat system.

As part of the nationwide rollout plan, pilots are planned in other states as well.

Surendra N Tripathi, Departments of Panchayati Raj & Information

Technology, Govt. of Orissa, Bhubaneswar
 16

The e-panchayat module developed by NIC Hyderabad (Dr. Prabhu) is a unique

project and needs immediate replication. In fact in Orissa we are trying to implement
it in all the panchayats of two blocks (Phiringia and Bangriposi). UNDP is prepared to
help gram panchayats with a computer knowing animator for about 6 months.

The only problem with this web-enabled Linux-Oracle based application is conversion
in local language. In fact the Ministry of Panchayati Raj can come to the rescue of
Gram Panchayats on the model of NPP.

Charru, IIPA, New Delhi

It’s good to see so many members keen on rural e-Gov. Some points on the subject:

1. In fact, apart from UN bodies, introduction of e-governance in Panchayats is

proposed to be introduced in Mission Mode Projects, by Govt. of India, wherein focus
would be on building up the capacity and capability of the PRIs.

2. Yes, Mr. SN Tripathi is correct about the need of support in local language support
as in National Panchayat Portal. Ministry of Communication and Information
Technology (MCIT) has a separate group dedicated to this, may be called NLP (Natural
Language Processing).

3. Going by their recent media claims, the details of this NPP model is that NIC has
already designed and is about to launch a consolidated single National Panchayat
Portal(NPP) to house details/information for all(which are a part of NPP) the two and
half lakh Panchayats of India and other related institutions/government
departments. NPP is supposed to have UNICODE based
multi-lingual support, content management support and would enable citizen-2-
citizen (C2C) and govt. to govt. (G2G) interactions, apart from conventional G2C
interactions.

4. As already pointed out, apart from Orissa, Kerala and AP have already started
uploading (putting up) their details on NPP.

5. Apart from this interesting intiative of NPP, under a Rs. 1000 crore budget,
Panchayati Raj Ministry has also decided to provide 2.4 lakh panchayats with
computers to interlink them with each other as well as with NPP. Interesting ...and
hopefully a precursor to more such successful stories.

Kris Dev, Life Line to Business Ltd., Chennai

The 'e-Administration', web enabled, platform neutral, Less Paper Office Tool,
developed using Java, Jboss, PG SQL as backend, all running on Linux, has a FCK
Editor and any language can be integrated in the tool easily.

Tamil Font has been installed in the server and can be accessed from any client.
Presently they are using Tamil in a local Govt. organization. Similarly, other languages
too can be integrated.

This could be of interest to some members.

Ashok kumar Paikaray, Mahavir Yubak Sangh, Bhubaneswar

 17

The implementation of e-Panchayat module in two blocks with support from UNDP is
encouraging. We may take care about the use of local vernacular in the above
programme.

Many thanks to all who contributed to this query!

If you have further information to share on this topic, please send it to Solution
Exchange for the Decentralization Community in India at se-decn@solutionexchange-
un.net.in with the subject reading ‘Re: [se-decn] Query: Use of Panchayat Networks,
from NIC,New Delhi (Experiences). Additional Reply’

Disclaimer: In posting messages or incorporating these messages into synthesized

responses, the UN accepts no responsibility for their veracity or authenticity.
Members intending to use or transmit the information contained in these messages
should be aware that they are relying on their own judgment.

Solution Exchange is a UN initiative for development practitioners in India.

For more information please visit www.solutionexchange-un.net.in