Lok Sabha Question No. 554 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-06
Subject: Internet Connection for Gram Panchayats
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Guman Singh Damor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 554

ANSWERED ON 06.02.2024

## Smart Panchayat Innovation Initiative

## †554. SHRI GUMAN SINGH DAMOR

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to State:

(a)  the steps being taken to make Panchayati Raj Institutions hi-tech;

(b)  the number of Gram Panchayats of Madhya Pradesh which have been connected with Fibre to the Home (FTTH) internet connection and the number of Gram Panchayats in which the said work is still pending;

(c)  the time by which the remaining Gram Panchayats are targeted to be provided internet connection;

(d)  the steps being taken to make the newly elected representatives technology friendly of Panchayati Raj Madhya Pradesh;

(e)  the number of Gram Panchayatsof Madhya Pradesh which are without buildings;

(f)  the time by which the buildings of the said Gram Panchayats are proposed to be constructed; and

(g)  the details of the scheme to make Gram Panchayat financially self-reliant ?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRI KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL)

(a) to (c) Under Digital India Programme, Ministry is implementing e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) with the aim to making Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), more transparent, accountable, and effective as local self-governments. Building on the achievements in the past, the Ministry launched eGramSwaraj, a work-based comprehensive application for PRIs under the e-Panchayat MMP on 24th April 2020. This application encompasses all aspects of Panchayat functioning viz. planning, budgeting, accounting, monitoring, asset management etc., on a single digital platform including online payments. So far, 2.52 lakh GPs have prepared and uploaded their Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs) for 2023-24. Further, 2.41 lakh Gram Panchayats have completed online transactions for 15th Finance Commission grants for 2023-24. State wise adoption of eGramSwaraj for 15thFinance Commission funds is given at Annexure-I .

Also, for strengthening the transparency and accountability at grassroots level, the Ministry has rolled out an application - AuditOnline under e-panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP). It allows for online audit of Panchayat accounts and records detailed information about internal and external audit. For audit year 2021-22, 2.49 lakh Audit Plans have been created and 2.42 lakh Audit Report have been generated. Similarly, for audit year 2022-23, 2.02 lakh Audit Plans have been created and audit reports have been generated for 92,896

For attaining the vision of Digital India, BharatNet project is being implemented by Department of Telecommunications in a phased manner to create network to connect all the GPs by broadband in the country. So far, 2,14,300 GPs have been made Service Ready under the BharatNet project in the country. The scope of BharatNet on 30.06.2021 has been extended up to all inhabited villages beyond GPs in the country. The State/UT-wise details of Service Ready Gram panchayats, including Madhya Pradesh is given at Annexure-II .

Further, Ministry of Panchayati Raj has prepared a Model Panchayat Citizens Charter/ framework for delivery of the services across the 29 sectors of Eleventh Schedule for the Panchayats to adopt. The aim is to provide services to the people in a time bound manner, redressing their grievances and improving their lives. The 'Meri Panchayat, MeraAdhikaarJan Sevaayein Hamaare Dwaar' campaign was rolled out from 01st July to 30th September, 2021. The campaign had emerged as an effective strategy for ensuring the Gram Panchayats have a Citizen Charter approved by the respective Gram Sabhas in place. The different services rendered to the citizen by the Panchayat are catalogued and the time limit is set for such service.

As on date, over 2.32 Lakh Gram Panchayats across 31 States/ UTs have conducted Gram Sabha and 2.15 Lakh Gram Panchayats have now finalised their Citizen Charters.

(d) The Ministry of Panchayati Rai (MoPR) is implementing Revamped Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) w.e.f. financial year 2022-23 with the main objective for capacitating Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) through imparting training to all the Elected Representatives (ERs) and other stakeholders to develop their governance capabilities for leadership roles to enable the Gram Panchayats to function effectively and to deliver on Sustainable Development Goals through Localization at grassroot level.

The broad categories of training under Revamped RGSA are General Orientation training, refresher training, thematic training, specialized training includes training on eGovernance/ Digital literacy, training on MIS through various digital portal & platform and any other training as per the State need is being supported to States/ UTs including State of Madhya Pradesh.

(e) & (f) Panchayat being State subject, providing Panchayat Bhawan for Gram Panchayats (GPs) is primarily the responsibility of States. The States are expected to mobilise funds for construction of Panchayat Buildings from various sources. However, under the revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) scheme approved for implementation from 01.04.2022 to 31.03.2026, has been supplementing the efforts of all States/UTs with focus on NE States, towards supporting the functioning of GPs by providing Panchayat Bhawan as proposed by States/UTs in their Annual Action Plan and approved by Central Empowered Committee on a limited scale. As per the information available, 555 GPs in Madhya Pradesh are without Panchayat Bhawan. Construction will be prioritized by the State Plan of Action.

(g) In terms of List II (State List) of Seventh Shcedule of the Constitution, 'Panchayat' being a 'local government', is a State subject. Towards Own Sources of Revenue (OSR) of the Panchayats, Article 243 (H) of the Constitution of India provides that the Legislature of a State may, by law, authorize a Panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate such taxes, duties, tolls and fees in accordance with such procedure and subject to such limits and assign to the Panchayats such taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by the State Government for such purposes and subject to such conditions and limits as may be specified in the law.

The role of Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been that of advocacy and technical support to the State Governments towards taking various measures for improvement in the OSR of the Panchayats. In this regard, a video conference meeting was held in Feburary, 2021 with the States regarding septs to be taken by them for improvement in the OSR levels of the Panchayats. Further, States/Union Territories have been advised in August, 2021 to prepare their Annual Calendar for all the Gram Panchayats in the State for the Gram Sabha meetings and include various topics for deliberations including OSR. A dedicated presentation session by the best performing District/Block/Gram Panchayat on OSR was also organized in October, 2021, in the webinar commemorating 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', for the benefit of Panchayats.

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## Adoption of eGramSwaraj for XV FC at Panchayat level during FY 2023-24

| S.N o   | State Name        | Total Number of Village Panchay ats& Equival ent   | Village Panchay at onboard   |   Village Panchay ats& Equival ent with Online Paymen t |   Total Number of Block Panchay ats |   Block Panchay at onboard |   Block Panchay ats with Online Paymen t |   Total Number of Zila Panchay ats |   Zila Panchay at onboard |   Zila Panchay ats with Online Paymen t |
|---------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1       | ANDHRA PRADESH    | 13325                                              | 13278                        |                                                   13059 |                                 660 |                        660 |                                      650 |                                 13 |                        13 |                                      13 |
| 2       | ARUNACHAL PRADESH | 2108                                               | 2099                         |                                                    1400 |                                   0 |                          0 |                                        0 |                                 25 |                        25 |                                      22 |
| 3       | ASSAM             | 2606                                               | 2163                         |                                                    2153 |                                 191 |                        191 |                                      191 |                                 30 |                        27 |                                      27 |
| 4       | BIHAR             | 8176                                               | 8175                         |                                                    8011 |                                 534 |                        534 |                                      527 |                                 38 |                        38 |                                      38 |
| 5       | CHHATTISGA RH     | 11655                                              | 11654                        |                                                   11032 |                                 146 |                        146 |                                      145 |                                 27 |                        27 |                                      27 |
| 6       | GOA               | 191                                                | 187                          |                                                      71 |                                   0 |                          0 |                                        0 |                                  2 |                         2 |                                       2 |
| 7       | GUJARAT           | 14627                                              | 14528                        |                                                   13516 |                                 248 |                        248 |                                      248 |                                 33 |                        33 |                                      33 |
| 8       | HARYANA           | 6226                                               | 6207                         |                                                    5463 |                                 143 |                        143 |                                      119 |                                 22 |                        22 |                                      22 |
| 9       | HIMACHAL PRADESH  | 3615                                               | 3612                         |                                                    3514 |                                  81 |                         81 |                                       80 |                                 12 |                        12 |                                      12 |
| 10      | JHARKHAND         | 4345                                               | 4345                         |                                                    4340 |                                 264 |                        264 |                                      263 |                                 24 |                        24 |                                      24 |
| 11      | KARNATAKA         | 5955                                               | 5955                         |                                                    5912 |                                 233 |                        232 |                                      177 |                                 31 |                        31 |                                      28 |
| 12      | KERALA            | 941                                                | 941                          |                                                     910 |                                 152 |                        152 |                                      139 |                                 14 |                        14 |                                      14 |
| 13      | MADHYA PRADESH    | 23032                                              | 23004                        |                                                   22153 |                                 313 |                        313 |                                      306 |                                 52 |                        52 |                                      51 |
| 14      | MAHARASHT RA      | 27667                                              | 27579                        |                                                   25389 |                                 351 |                        351 |                                      342 |                                 34 |                        34 |                                      34 |
| 15      | MANIPUR           | 3812                                               | 161                          |                                                       0 |                                   0 |                          0 |                                        0 |                                 12 |                         6 |                                       3 |
| 16      | MEGHALAYA         | 6760                                               | 0                            |                                                       0 |                                2240 |                          0 |                                        0 |                                  3 |                         3 |                                       0 |
| 17      | MIZORAM           | 834                                                | 834                          |                                                     413 |                                   0 |                          0 |                                        0 |                                  0 |                         0 |                                       0 |
| 18      | NAGALAND          | 1293                                               | 167                          |                                                       0 |                                   0 |                          0 |                                        0 |                                  0 |                         0 |                                       0 |
| 19      | ODISHA            | 6798                                               | 6798                         |                                                    6776 |                                 314 |                        314 |                                      314 |                                 30 |                        30 |                                      30 |
| 20      | PUNJAB            | 13241                                              | 13203                        |                                                   11400 |                                 152 |                        151 |                                      135 |                                 22 |                        22 |                                      20 |
| 21      | RAJASTHAN         | 11255                                              | 11247                        |                                                   10927 |                                 362 |                        352 |                                      351 |                                 33 |                        33 |                                      33 |
| 22      | SIKKIM            | 199                                                | 186                          |                                                     178 |                                   0 |                          0 |                                        0 |                                  6 |                         4 |                                       4 |
| 23      | TAMILNADU         | 12525                                              | 12524                        |                                                   12405 |                                 388 |                        388 |                                      386 |                                 36 |                        36 |                                      36 |
| 24      | TELANGANA         | 12769                                              | 12768                        |                                                   12755 |                                 540 |                        540 |                                      464 |                                 32 |                        32 |                                      32 |
| 25      | TRIPURA           | 1178                                               | 1178                         |                                                    1175 |                                  75 |                         75 |                                       75 |                                  9 |                         9 |                                       9 |
| 26      | UTTARAKHA ND      | 7794                                               | 7793                         |                                                    7746 |                                  95 |                         95 |                                       94 |                                 13 |                        13 |                                      13 |
| 27      | UTTAR PRADESH     | 57754                                              | 57752                        |                                                   57241 |                                 826 |                        826 |                                      806 |                                 75 |                        75 |                                      75 |
| 28      | WEST BENGAL       | 3339                                               | 3228                         |                                                    3225 |                                 345 |                        336 |                                      336 |                                 22 |                        21 |                                      21 |
| Total   | Total             | 264020 251566                                      | 264020 251566                |                                                  241164 |                                8653 |                       6392 |                                     6148 |                                650 |                       638 |                                     623 |

State/UT-wise details of Service Ready Gram panchayats

| Sr.No   | State Name                                 |   Total GPs/ TLBs |   Service Ready GPs/TLBs |   Operational GPs/TLBs |
|---------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------|--------------------------|------------------------|
| 1       | ANDAMAN AND NICOBARISLANDS                 |                70 |                       81 |                     70 |
| 2       | ANDHRAPRADESH                              |             13325 |                    12882 |                    539 |
| 3       | ARUNACHALPRADESH                           |              2108 |                     1081 |                    133 |
| 4       | ASSAM                                      |              2197 |                     1640 |                    531 |
| 5       | BIHAR                                      |              8054 |                     8860 |                   3390 |
| 6       | CHHATTISGARH                               |             11654 |                     9759 |                   2299 |
| 7       | GOA                                        |               191 |                        0 |                      0 |
| 8       | GUJARAT                                    |             14621 |                    14551 |                  11490 |
| 9       | HARYANA                                    |              6225 |                     6204 |                   1430 |
| 10      | HIMACHALPRADESH                            |              3615 |                      415 |                    263 |
| 11      | JAMMUANDKASHMIR                            |              4291 |                     1113 |                    440 |
| 12      | JHARKHAND                                  |              4345 |                     4638 |                   2175 |
| 13      | KARNATAKA                                  |              5953 |                     6251 |                   3592 |
| 14      | KERALA                                     |               941 |                     1130 |                    971 |
| 15      | LADAKH                                     |               193 |                      193 |                     38 |
| 16      | LAKSHADWEEP                                |                10 |                        9 |                      4 |
| 17      | MADHYAPRADESH                              |             23011 |                    18102 |                   2818 |
| 18      | MAHARASHTRA                                |             27906 |                    24455 |                   3424 |
| 19      | MANIPUR                                    |              3651 |                     1479 |                     23 |
| 20      | MEGHALAYA                                  |              9058 |                      692 |                     27 |
| 21      | MIZORAM                                    |               834 |                      495 |                     46 |
| 22      | NAGALAND                                   |              1296 |                      230 |                      7 |
| 23      | ODISHA                                     |              6794 |                     7099 |                   2304 |
| 24      | PUDUCHERRY                                 |               108 |                      101 |                     98 |
| 25      | PUNJAB                                     |             13241 |                    12807 |                   7941 |
| 26      | RAJASTHAN                                  |             11254 |                     8997 |                   6302 |
| 27      | SIKKIM                                     |               199 |                       54 |                     10 |
| 28      | TAMILNADU                                  |             12525 |                     7557 |                   2467 |
| 29      | TELANGANA                                  |             12769 |                    10882 |                   5385 |
| 30      | THE DADRAAND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN ANDDIU |                38 |                       41 |                     19 |
| 31      | TRIPURA                                    |               589 |                      771 |                    366 |
| 32      | UTTARPRADESH                               |             57702 |                    46780 |                   2871 |
| 33      | UTTARAKHAND                                |              7795 |                     2013 |                   1218 |
| 34      | WESTBENGAL                                 |              3339 |                     2938 |                   2222 |
| Grand   | Total                                      |            269902 |                   214300 |                  64913 |

*Some GP may have more than 1 service points.

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