Shimla, Jun 21
As many as 412 new panchayats in Himachal Pradesh would be converted to “E Panchayats ” in the next two months to induce mass ICT culture at the grassroots level for flawless and efficient implementation of the e-applications aiming at providing various government services available to villagers at their doorsteps said Virender Kanwar Minister for Rural Development,& Panchayati Raj here today.
He said that total 412 new panchayats were created during Feb 2021 and April 2021 for the convenience of villagers who hitherto had to travel long distances (to the panchayat offices) for redressal of various issues.
He said that out of total 412 new panchayats, 51 panchayats in Shimla, 81 panchayats in Kangra, 12 panchayats in Una, 95 panchayats in Mandi, 25 panchayats in Bilaspur, 26 Panchayats in Chamba,19 panchayats in Hamirpur, 29 Panchayats in Solan, 31 Panchayats in Sirmour, 31 Panchayats in Kullu ,four Panchayats in Lahaul Spiti and eight Panchayats in Kinnaur would be converted to “E Panchayats” by setting up ICT infrastructure like Hardware ,internet facilities etc with a total cost of Rs 2.06 crore in these panchayats in next two months.
So far about Rs 40 cr. has been spent to provide ICT infrastructure like Hardware, internet facilities etc to 3226 “E-Panchayats” in the state. He said that a sum of Rs 195 crore would be spent on the construction of the building and other infrastructure for the newly created 412 new panchayats in a phased manner.
All govt functionaries and Panchayati raj representatives of newly created panchayats will be trained on functioning and other aspects of ” E Panchayats ” in coming months so as the larger section of rural population are able to benefit from new technologies; can access and share information and services freely and can participate in the development process more effectively by extensive use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
He said that budget provision of around 19 lakhs has been made for training of Panchayati Raj Representative and Officials to ensure efficient functioning of “E Panchayats” models in the state. So far 27321 officials and PRI functionaries have been trained and presently training is being imparted through online mode.
The state has provided internet connectivity to 3226 panchayats at present where people can access various services such as copy of parivar register, registration of birth, death and marriages etc and getting certificates of the same while sitting at the comforts of their homes, said Virender Kanwar Minister.
State received 1st first e-panchayat award in the year 2020 and successively second award in the year 2021 for efficient management of Planning, accounting, Progress reporting, Geo tagging, asset directory, area profiler, Local government directory on PES (Panchayat Enterprise Suite) website and best implementation of state specific services. As many as twelve Zila Prishads and 78 Block Samitis are covered under PES mode and process of two newly created block Samitis is underway.
Presently 3226 “E Gram Panchayats ” has uploaded the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) on portal. Approx 2600 E- Gram Panchayats has closed the yearbook of current Financial Year on portal. A target has been fixed to make 100 % payment through e-Gramswaraj- Public Finance Management System (PFMS) interface.
The works being done by E panchayats are being geotagged and so far 42793 works of Central Finance Commission (CFC), are being geo tagged in the state. State specific applications namely e-Pariwar (copy of pariwar register) and e-District (provide online copy of birth, death and marriage register) online services are being provided to the people of Panchayats said Kanwar.
