Computerisation of Functioning of Gram Panchayats

The Minister of Panchayati Raj Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo has said that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) that addresses all core aspects of Panchayats’ functioning viz. Planning, Monitoring, Implementation, Budgeting, Accounting, Social Audit, etc. Under e-Panchayat MMP, 11 Core Common Software applications were planned which collectively constitute the Panchayat Enterprise Suite (PES). Four of these applications namely PRIASoft, PlanPlus, National Panchayat Portal and Local Governance Directory have been rolled out and are in public domain. These can be accessed at http://Accountingonline.gov.in, http://planningonline.gov.in, http://panchayat.gov.in and http://panchayatdirectory.gov.in respectively. Six more applications namely Area Profiler, ServicePlus, Asset Directory, ActionSoft, Social Audit and Trainings Management were launched on 24th April, 2012 on the occasion of National Panchayat Day and are in the process of adoption by the States. Since PES adoption is not complete in all Gram Panchayats, the computerization of the functioning of the Gram Panchayats is yet to be achieved. Lack of internet connectivity, power, hardware and insufficient number of trained manpower at Gram Panchayat level are contributing factors in the slow progress of computerization of Panchayats.

Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha , he said, for effective implementation of the Project, workshops/trainings are organised to demonstrate the applications to the State Govt. functionaries. Ministry of Panchayati Raj is also providing trained faculty to provide trainings on all applications. Consultants were provided to 25 States to initiate the rollout of the project. During 2011-12, Rs. 38.5 Crores were released to all States/UTs for setting up of Programme Management Units (PMUs) at State and District levels for adoption of PES applications. Furthermore, States are also incentivized to adopt the PES applications through the annual e-Panchayat Puraskars. 

Shri Deo said, in Jharkhand, over 300 functionaries have been imparted trainings on PRIASoft and PlanPlus. 380 Panchayat functionaries and elected members were imparted trainings in basic ICT literacy. During 2011-12, 23 Zilla Panchayat, 125 Block Panchayats and 2464 Gram Panchayats made voucher entries in PRIASoft, whereas 9 Zilla Panchayat, 67 Block Panchayats and 1559 Gram Panchayats adopted PlanPlus in Jharkhand.