Lok Sabha Question No. 1236 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-03
Subject: e-Panchayat Mission Project
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Dr. Kadiyam Kavya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ LOK SABHAUNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1236

ANSWERED ON 03.12.2024

## 1236. DR. KADIYAM KAVYA

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to State:

(a) the number and percentage of Panchayat offices that have a computer and internet connection, State-wise, especially in Telangana;

(b) the details of the steps taken by the Government to digitize Panchayat Institutions and offices;

(c) the annual budget allocation and final expenditure on e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project during the last three years; and

(d) the outcome status of the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PANCHAYATI RAJ

## (PROF. S. P. SINGH BAGHEL)

(a) The number of Gram Panchayats (GPs) with computers, and their percentage, as reported by States in their Annual Action Plan, including for the State of Telangana , may be seen in Annexure-I . Further, high-speed internet is provided to the rural areas under BharatNet Project of the Department of Telecommunications. The number of GPs made service-ready under the BharatNet Project of the Department of Telecommunications, i ncluding in the State of Telangana , is also included in Annexure-I . The data on serviceready GPs is sourced from the BharatNet UNMS Dashboard. There may be more than one service-ready points in a Gram Panchayats.

(b) Under Digital India Programme, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing ePanchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP), in all the States/ Union Territories (UTs) of the country. The aim is to revamp the functioning of Panchayats and to make them more transparent, accountable, and effective. Ministry has launched eGramSwaraj, an accounting application to simplify Panchayat work like planning, accounting, and budgeting. Ministry has also integrated eGramSwaraj with Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for Gram Panchayats (GPs) to make real-time payments to vendors/service providers. As on Date, 2,54,508 Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs) for 2024-25 have been prepared and available in e-GramSwaraj.

Also, an application 'AuditOnline' has been developed for online audits of Panchayat accounts and their financial management. AuditOnline portal, launched in April 2020, facilitates transparent auditing of Central Finance Commission funds utilization and strengthens financial management of Panchayats. Similarly, Applications developed by the

Ministry like 'Meri Panchayat' has endeavoured to bring transparency in Panchayat Governance by making information on planning, activities and progress of works in Panchayat accessible to public. Similarly, 'Panchayat Nirnay' is an online application aims at bringing transparency and better management in conduct of Gram Sabhas by Panchayats.

For providing high bandwidth capacity, expansion of mobile services and broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas, BharatNet project is being implemented by Department of Telecommunications in a phased manner to create network to connect all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,55,000) in the country. BharatNet project's main goal is to provide high-speed internet to the rural areas across India. State/UT-wise List of Service Ready Gram Panchayats available for providing services under BharatNet is at Annexure-I. There may be more than one service ready points in a Gram Panchayat.

(c) Under e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project funds are being provided to National Informatics Center Services Inc. (NICSI) for central level support for maintenance of ePanchayat applications. The year wise annual expenditure on E-Panchayat Mission Mode Project is given at Annexure-II .

(d) As a result of different initiatives, so far, 2.54 lakh GPs have prepared and uploaded their Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs) for 2024-25 on e-GramSwaraj. Under 15th Finance Commission, 2.45 lakh GPs have carried online transactions during 2023-24. All States are making efforts to implement e-Panchayat MMP, based on their available resources and there is substantial improvement in adoption of digital applications by the States in PRIs' functioning.

Annexure-I State-wise Status of Gram Panchayats with Computers and Internet Connections

|   Sl. No | Name of the State                            |   Total GPs/ TLBs (as per LGD) |   GPs With Computer | %GPsWith Computer   |   Service Ready GPs* | %Service Ready GPs*   |
|----------|----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|----------------------|-----------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh                               |                          13327 |                9556 | 72%                 |                12972 | 97%                   |
|        2 | Andaman &Nicobar                             |                             70 |                  70 | 100%                |                   81 | 100%                  |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                            |                           2108 |                 972 | 46%                 |                 1133 | 54%                   |
|        4 | The Dadra And Nagar Haveli And Daman And Diu |                             42 |                  42 | 100%                |                   41 | 98%                   |
|        5 | Assam                                        |                           2662 |                1510 | 57%                 |                 1634 | 61%                   |
|        6 | Lakshadweep                                  |                             10 |                   0 | 0%                  |                    9 | 90%                   |
|        7 | Bihar                                        |                           8054 |                8053 | 100%                |                 8860 | 100%                  |
|        8 | Ladakh                                       |                            193 |                 129 | 67%                 |                  193 | 100%                  |
|        9 | Chhattisgarh                                 |                          11648 |                5752 | 49%                 |                 9759 | 84%                   |
|       10 | Puducherry                                   |                            108 |                   0 | 0%                  |                  101 | 94%                   |
|       11 | Goa                                          |                            191 |                 191 | 100%                |                    0 | 0%                    |
|       12 | Gujarat                                      |                          14656 |               14546 | 99%                 |                14559 | 99%                   |
|       13 | Haryana                                      |                           6223 |                1725 | 28%                 |                 6204 | 100%                  |
|       14 | Himachal Pradesh                             |                           3615 |                3415 | 94%                 |                  416 | 12%                   |
|       15 | Jammu and Kashmir                            |                           4291 |                4291 | 100%                |                 1115 | 26%                   |
|       16 | Jharkhand                                    |                           4345 |                3312 | 76%                 |                 4649 | 100%                  |
|       17 | Karnataka                                    |                           5953 |                5953 | 100%                |                 6251 | 100%                  |
|       18 | Kerala                                       |                            941 |                 941 | 100%                |                 1130 | 100%                  |
|       19 | Madhya Pradesh                               |                          23011 |               22722 | 99%                 |                18106 | 79%                   |
|       20 | Maharashtra                                  |                          27951 |               26998 | 97%                 |                24778 | 89%                   |
|       21 | Manipur                                      |                           3812 |                 161 | 4%                  |                 1479 | 39%                   |
|       22 | Meghalaya                                    |                           6832 |                4729 | 69%                 |                  696 | 10%                   |
|       23 | Mizoram                                      |                            843 |                 261 | 31%                 |                  535 | 63%                   |
|       24 | Nagaland                                     |                           1315 |                 595 | 45%                 |                  236 | 18%                   |
|       25 | Odisha                                       |                           6794 |                6794 | 100%                |                 7099 | 100%                  |
|       26 | Punjab                                       |                          13238 |                   0 | 0%                  |                12807 | 97%                   |
|       27 | Rajasthan                                    |                          11218 |               11208 | 100%                |                 8997 | 80%                   |
|       28 | Sikkim                                       |                            199 |                 149 | 75%                 |                   54 | 27%                   |
|       29 | Tamil Nadu                                   |                          12525 |               10100 | 81%                 |                10295 | 82%                   |
|       30 | Telangana                                    |                          12771 |                4436 | 35%                 |                10926 | 86%                   |
|       31 | Tripura                                      |                           1192 |                 701 | 59%                 |                  772 | 65%                   |
|       32 | Uttar Pradesh                                |                          57702 |               57702 | 100%                |                47434 | 82%                   |
|       33 | Uttarakhand                                  |                           7795 |                2805 | 36%                 |                 2021 | 26%                   |
|       34 | West Bengal                                  |                           3339 |                3339 | 100%                |                 2958 | 89%                   |

* The information is based on the data available on UNMS dashboard.Some Gram Panchayats may have multiple service points in a Gram Panchayat.

## Annexure -II

## Details of annual expenditure on E-Panchayat Mission Mode Project

(Rs. in Crore)

| Financial Year   |   Budgeted estimates (B.E) |   Revised Estimates (R.E) |   Actual Expenditure |
|------------------|----------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------|
| 2021-22          |                         20 |                     11.71 |                11.71 |
| 2022-23          |                         20 |                     15    |                15    |
| 2023-24          |                         20 |                     16.28 |                16.03 |