India is a nation of villages. The rural mass in the nation comprises the core of Indian society and also represents the real India. According to the Census Data 2001, there are 638,387 villages in India that represent more than 72 per cent of the total population.
So development of these rural mass is one of the key areas of consideration in the government policy formulation. Rural Development which is concerned with economic growth and social justice, improvement in the living standard of the rural people by providing adequate and quality social services and minimum basic needs becomes essential. The present strategy of rural development mainly focuses on poverty alleviation, better livelihood opportunities, provision of basic amenities and infrastructure facilities through innovative programmes of wage and self-employment etc.
The government of India has started many programmes aimed at improving the standard of living in villages or rural areas. To build rural infrastructure, the government launched a time-bound business plan for action called Bharat Nirman in 2005. Under Bharat Nirman, action is proposed in the areas of Water Supply, Housing, Telecommunication and Information Technology, Roads, Electrification and Irrigation.
In view of the sheer size and diversity of our country, delivery of governance to the remote corners in a meaningful and locally relevant manner is a huge challenge. The administrative setup has evolved by incorporating our age old institutions with the modern democratic organs to meet this challenge.
To make this challenge easy Panchayati Raj came into existence. Panchayats have historically been an integral part of rural life in India, and the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 has institutionalised the Panchayati Raj at the Village, Intermediate and the District levels, as the third tier of governance. In May 2004, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj was formed as the Nodal agency looking after the empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions in the country.
National e-Governance Plan:
The Government of India has approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) in May 2006 with the vision: "Make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, throughout common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realise the basic needs of the common man".
e-Governance in India has steadily evolved from computerisation of Government departments to initiatives that encapsulate the finer points of governance, such as citizen centricity, service orientation and transparency. Lessons from previous e-Governance initiatives have played an important role in shaping the progressive e-Governance strategy of the country. Due cognizance has been taken of the notion that to speed up e-Governance implementation across the various arms of government at the National, State, and Local levels, a programme approach needs to be adopted, guided by common vision and strategy. This approach has the potential of enabling huge savings in costs through sharing of core and support infrastructure, enabling interoperability through standards, and of presenting a seamless view of Government to citizens.
The NeGP takes a holistic view of e-Governance initiatives across the country, integrating them into a collective vision, a shared cause. Around this idea, a massive countrywide infrastructure, reaching down to the remotest of villages, is evolving and large-scale digitization of records is taking place to enable easy, reliable access over the internet. The ultimate objective is to bring public services closer home to citizens, as articulated in the Vision Statement of the NeGP.
The NeGP currently consists of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and eight Support Components to be implemented at the Central, State and Local Government levels. These include projects such as Income Tax, Customs & Excise & Passports at the Central Level, Land Records, Agriculture and e-District at the State Level and Panchayats and Municipalities at the Local level. There are also a number of Integrated MMPs like e-Procurement, Service Delivery Gateway and EDI which are integrated MMPs where delivery of services envisaged in the project entail coordinated implementation across multiple departments of the Government.
Development of the rural mass and providing them services by using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the major initiatives by the MMP. Maximum State MMPs are meant for the grassroots population.
Over the years, a large number of initiatives have been undertaken by various State Governments and Central Ministries to usher in an era of e-Government to make the Rural Development schemes fruitful. Sustained efforts have been made at multiple levels to improve the delivery of public services and simplify the process of accessing them.
e-Governance in Agriculture:
There have been several initiatives by the State and Central Governments to meet the various challenges facing the agriculture sector in the country. The Agriculture MMP has been included in NeGP in an effort to consolidate the various learning from the past, integrate all the diverse and disparate efforts currently underway, and upscale them to cover the entire country. The online services include up to the Panchayat level.
The major e-Governance initiatives in Agriculture sector are:
- Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
- Information to farmers on Govt. Programmes and Schemes
- Agricultural Marketing Information Network
- Agriculture Credit
- Agriculture Marketing
- Drought Management
- Macro Management Unit
- Networking of Directorates and Field Units
- Seeds
- Kisan Call Center
- Agricultural Census
- Registration of Pesticides
- Integrated Nutrient Management
- Rainfed Farming System
- Cooperation
- Horticulture Development
The Panchayat represents the first-level of government interaction for over 60 per cent of the Indian populace, and provides a large number of basic services for millions of citizens living in rural locations across the nation. It is against this backdrop that the Panchayat MMP has been included in NeGP. The MMP aims to address and overcome the typical challenges faced in the villages, such as lack of reliable communication infrastructure, delay in delivery of services to citizens, low revenue mobilisation for implementing schemes at the Gram Panchayat level, and lack of monitoring mechanisms for schemes.
The MMP envisages implementation of various modules across the services and management functions within Gram Panchayat, such as the following:
- Issue of trade licences and NoC
- House-related services
- Issue of certificates of Birth and Death, Income and Solvency
- Dissemination of internal process of Panchayat agenda, voting, and resolution
- Copy of proceedings of Gram Sabha and Action Taken Report (ATR)
- Receipt of funds/progress report
- Dissemination of BPL data
Model e-Panchayat include:
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