Expediting e-panchayats in Assam

The digital empowerment of the panchayat bodies plays a crucial role in bringing decentralised governance closer to the people in rural areas. e-Panchayat is one of the mission-mode projects under the Digital India programme of the Central Government that is aimed at automating the internal workflow processes of all the nearly 2.71 lakh panchayats or equivalent bodies across the country. After full execution, the project will benefit about 30 lakh elected panchayat members and about 10 lakh functionaries of Panchyati Raj Institutions and improve local governance through faster and more transparent delivery of public services. Official data shows that Assam needs to accelerate the pace of equipping the panchayats with active internet connections to achieve the objectives of e-panchyats. Of the total 2197 Gramme Panchyats (GPs) in the state, only 604 (27%) had active internet connections as of January 21. Compared to the status in Assam, in Gujarat 78% of GPS and in Kerala 100% of GPS (941) have active internet connections. Every GP in the state becoming service-ready under the BharatNet project is also crucial for the implementation of the e-panchayat project. So far, out of 2.5 lakh panchayats, 1.9 lakh panchayats have been made service-ready, but only 80,000 panchayats are operational under this flagship project of connecting all GPS with broadband connectivity. In Assam, 74% of GPs are service-ready under the BharatNet project, pointing towards the opportunities already available but yet to be tapped. Under the BharatNet project, which was started in 2011, the last-mile connectivity to access broadband or internet services is to be provided through Wi-Fi in public places or any other suitable broadband technology, including Fibre to the Home (FTTH) technology at government institutions such as schools, hospitals, post offices, anganwadis, police stations, etc. The Ministry of Telecom has set the target of connecting all GPs and equivalents in the northeast region by 2025. The funding mechanism explains the slow progress in service-ready GPs having active internet connections. No funds were released to states directly for e-panchyats when the scheme was subsumed under the erstwhile Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashastikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) scheme in 2012–13. Funds under the scheme were released only to the National Informatics Centre Services for central-level support for maintenance and training of e-Gramme Swaraj and other applications. From 2018–19, e-panchayat will be implemented as a component of the Rashtriya Gramme Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA). The revised RGSA framework states that there will be a strong emphasis on leveraging emerging technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, the metaverse, etc. to ensure interactive capacity building and training and facilitate anytime, anywhere self-learning and self-certification. The Union Cabinet has approved the revamped RGSA for implementation till 2026 with a total outlay of Rs 5911 crore, including Rs 3700 crore as the central share and Rs 2211 crore as the state share. The revamped framework makes it mandatory for PRIs to onboard the e-GramSwaraj portal for their transactions for transparency and strengthening e-governance. The states’ push for active internet connections at each service-ready GP, therefore, has become an urgent necessity. Panchayat is a state subject, and therefore, providing basic infrastructure facilities, including computers, electric power supply, etc., to GPs is primarily the responsibility of the state government. Assam has made significant progress in the construction of Panchayat Bhawans, but nearly half of the GPs are yet to have computers, which indicates the poor pace of implementation of decentralised e-governance in rural Assam. Under the revamped RGSA, funds are provided by the central government to the states and union territories for equipping the panchayats with computers, while 15th Finance Commission grants are also available for panchayats for computerization. Timely and judicious utilisation of such funds and timely submission of utilisation certificates by the states are critical for smooth and adequate fund flow. The PRI functionaries and members being made aware of the availability of such funds and also of the importance of transparent and judicious utilisation is vital for the fast-track computerization of the panchayats. The Revamped RGSA envisions leveraging cutting-edge digital technology for improving e-governance at panchayat level, but nearly half of the village panchyats in the state are still without computers, which is a mismatch that needs to be corrected at the earliest if the state is to make faster progress. Elected PRI functionaries and members being visionary and having an understanding of the importance of the application of digital technology for e-panchayat is therefore vital to achieving the objectives. People are also simultaneously aware of the importance of e-governance, which is necessary to be able to elect the right candidates to represent them at the PRIs. The state government needs to conduct a special awareness drive across the panchayats among members and functionaries as well as among the rural population to expedite the implementation of the Mission Mode project of e-panchayat. The rapid spread of digital technology in the state has created a favourable ecosystem for undertaking such an initiative.