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Ministry of Panchayati Raj e-PRI Study Project

Information & Services Need Assessment Report

for

Panchayati Raj Institutions

in

The State of Jammu & Kashmir

By

National Informatics Center Services Inc.

September 2009

e-PRI Study Project Information & Services Need Assessment Report - Jammu & Kashmir

National Informatics Centre Services Inc of 146

Confidentiality Statement

This report is intended solely for the information and use of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj,

Government of India and should not be used, circulated, quoted or otherwise referred to for any

other purpose by any institution or individual other than the Ministry, nor included or referred to in

whole or in part in any document without the prior consent of NICSI or the Ministry.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The field study was a key component of the information and Services Need Assessment as

envisaged at the commencement of the Project, and forms the basis of the report. In this regard the 3i

team would like to acknowledge the contribution made by key stakeholders in The state of Jammu &

Kashmir to facilitate the study.

The team wishes to express its gratitude to the following individuals in particular for their continued

support, valuable inputs and guidance throughout this study:

State Level

�� Mr. MS Khan, Secretary, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Department, J&K

�� Mr. Mir Altaf Ahmed, Addl. Secretary, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Department, J&K

�� Dr. Shahnawaz Alam, Professor, Institute of Management & Public Administration, J&K

District Level

�� Mr. Syed Sharief-ud-Din, District Development Commissioner- District Doda,

�� Mr. Riaz Ahmed Choudhary, Assistant Commissioner (Development), Rural Development &

Panchayati Raj Department - District Doda,

�� Mr. Kalyan Singh Parihar, Sub Divisional Magistrate- Bahdarwah Block of District Doda

�� Mr. Anil Kumar Thakur, Block Development Officer, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj

Department, J&K

Without the extensive co-operation and involvement of the State and District officials, compilation of

the State Information & Services Needs findings report would not have been possible. The study has

been conducted by NICSI empanelled firm M/s. 3i-Infotech Limited with the support of National

Informatics Centre (NIC) & NGO.

The Project team consisted of:

�� Mr. Abhay Kumar, State Informatics Officer, NIC, J&K

�� Mr. Anil Kumar, State Coordinator, NIC, J&K

�� Mr. Sunil Kaul, DIO, NIC Doda, J&K

�� Mr. Shailesh Gabhane, Principal Consultant, 3i Infotech Ltd.

�� Ms. Parul Batra, Senior Consultant, 3i Infotech Ltd.

�� Mr. Junaid Hasmi, Junior Consultant, 3i Infotech Ltd.

�� Mr. Siraj-ud-Din Salam, NGO, Kashmir Humanity Foundation

We sincerely hope that this report leads to meaningful computerization of the Panchayati Raj

Institutions and translates into an IT driven empowerment of the Panchayats.



Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. 8

2. Summary of findings............................................................................................................... 13

3. Project Background ................................................................................................................ 20

4. Approach & Methodology....................................................................................................... 23

4.1. Overall e-PRI Project Approach ................................................................................................. 23

4.2. Study Methodology..................................................................................................................... 25

4.3. Services identification methodology........................................................................................... 31

5. Status of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) ........................................................................ 34

5.1. Vision of State PR Department .................................................................................................. 37

5.2. Panchayati Raj Organization Structure ...................................................................................... 38

5.3. Devolution status........................................................................................................................ 47

5.4. PR Governance.......................................................................................................................... 54

5.5. G2G Functional Areas................................................................................................................ 55

5.6. Best Practices & Key Learning related to PR Governance........................................................ 65

6. Information and Services Needs ........................................................................................... 68

6.1. Information needs of line departments....................................................................................... 69

6.2. Information Needs of state RD&PR department and PRI ( ZP/BP/GP)..................................... 73

6.3. Information Needs of Citizens .................................................................................................... 79

6.4. Service Needs of Citizens .......................................................................................................... 85

7. e-Governance Readiness ....................................................................................................... 87

7.1. Initiatives for computerization of PRI.......................................................................................... 88

7.2. Extent of integration of NeGP initiatives with PRI ...................................................................... 88

7.3. ICT Infrastructure Assessment................................................................................................... 91

7.4. Civil work Assessment ............................................................................................................... 92

5.3.1. Status of Activity Mapping ............................................................................................ 52

5.3.2. Challenges .................................................................................................................... 54

5.5.1. Planning ........................................................................................................................ 55

5.5.2. Monitoring & Implementation ........................................................................................ 58

5.5.3. Accounting .................................................................................................................... 60

5.5.4. Extent of PRI involvement in Schemes......................................................................... 61

5.5.5. Participation in Committees .......................................................................................... 62

7.3.1. ICT Assessment of PRIs:.............................................................................................. 91



8. State Capacity Assessment ................................................................................................... 94

8.1. Capacities................................................................................................................................... 94

8.2. Skills and Capabilities ................................................................................................................ 97

8.3. Training Needed......................................................................................................................... 98

9. Citizen Service Delivery ........................................................................................................ 101

10. Way Forward .......................................................................................................................... 102

10.1. Services finalized for Process re-engineering.......................................................................... 104

10.2. New Services ........................................................................................................................... 105

11. Annexure ................................................................................................................................ 106

11.1. List of Interview ........................................................................................................................ 106

11.2. List of Questionnaires............................................................................................................... 107

11.3. Minutes of key meetings held................................................................................................... 136

12. Brief Profile of Jammu & Kashmir....................................................................................... 139

13. Brief Profile of Doda District ................................................................................................ 142

14. Glossary.................................................................................................................................. 145



List of Tables

Table 1: Various Phases of Study......................................................................................................... 22

Table 2: Topics covered in Templates .................................................................................................. 30

Table 3: Panchayati Raj Act Mapping ................................................................................................... 35

Table 4: Panchayats Status .................................................................................................................. 35

Table 5: Panchayat Assets.................................................................................................................... 36

Table 6: Internal Revenue Mobilizations............................................................................................... 48

Table 7: Details of Heads of Accounts .................................................................................................. 60

Table 8: Committees in District DODA.................................................................................................. 63

Table 9: Information Needs of line departments................................................................................... 70

Table 10: Information Needs of State PR Department & PRIs............................................................. 73

Table 11: Gram Sabha Findings (Information Needs of Citizens) ................................................. 82

Table 12: Service Needs of Citizens ..................................................................................................... 85

Table 13: IT Infrastructure Assessment of RD &PR Dept .................................................................... 91

Table 14: Panchayat Profile .................................................................................................................. 92

Table 15: Capacity Assessment of State PR Dept ............................................................................... 95

Table 16: List of Identified Services .................................................................................................... 104

Table 17: List of New Services............................................................................................................ 105

Table 18: List of Interviewees.............................................................................................................. 106

Table 19: Registers at Gram Panchayat ............................................................................................. 143

Table 20: Village Profile Khallaini Village ....................................................................................... 144



List of Figures

Figure 1: Appreciation Letter from Secretary RD, Govt. of J&K ........................................................... 11

Figure 2: Appreciation Letter from DDC, Doda, Govt. of J&K .............................................................. 12

Figure 3: Overall e-PRI Approach ......................................................................................................... 23

Figure 4: State Level Workshop............................................................................................................ 27

Figure 5: District Level Workshop ......................................................................................................... 28

Figure 6: Press Note on District Workshop........................................................................................... 28

Figure 7: Gram Sabha at Village........................................................................................................... 29

Figure 8: Services Identification Methodology ...................................................................................... 31

Figure 9: Department wise service chart............................................................................................... 33

Figure 10: Type of Services .................................................................................................................. 33

Figure 11: Organization Structure State PR Department ..................................................................... 39

Figure 12: Organization Structure District Administration..................................................................... 41

Figure 13: District Planning & Development Board .............................................................................. 42

Figure 14: Block Development Council ................................................................................................. 43

Figure 15: Halqa Panchayat Structure .................................................................................................. 44

Figure 16: Meeting with line departments ............................................................................................. 69

Figure 17: Gram Sabha Dhrudu............................................................................................................ 80

Figure 18: Gram Sabha at Khallaini ...................................................................................................... 81

Figure 19: NeGP MMPs Integration ................................................................................................... 89

Figure 20: Panchayat Ghar Status........................................................................................................ 93



1. Executive Summary

The functioning of the government offices, even though governed by the set of rules, regulations and

guidelines, generally remains slow, discretionary and at times chaotic also. In the absence of

automated information systems and real time information flow from the grass-root level to the top

level, the service delivery to the citizens gets perpetually delayed for want of availability of rules and

regulations and collecting information from varied sources. A great amount of time is spent in routing

business supporting the internal requirements of the government rather than delivering services to the

citizens causing great deal of harassment to the citizens when they have to travel 30-50 kms to avail

the particular government service and that too in the difficult hilly terrain till the Block level and

sometimes to the District level also.

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act 1993 ushered in a new era of democratic decentralization, in

which both powers and responsibilities were devolved upon elected Panchayats at the District,

Intermediate and Village levels. The Panchayati Raj Institution in India is an effort to promote

decentralized and all inclusive governance in rural areas. To ensure inclusiveness of growth process

it is necessary that large numbers of elected representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) are

fully involved in planning, implementing and supervising the delivery of essential public services.

e-PRI, the extension of e-Governance till the Gram Panchayat level seeks to achieve a set of

objectives like increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the processes, employee productivity,

efficient management of data, information and knowledge sharing within the Government, better

communications and coordination and advancement towards knowledge lead governance for the

benefit of the citizens as well as government.

Another important issue to be addressed through this e-PRI project is information dissemination that

is not only useful for an ordinary citizen for his / her daily contact with the Government, but also for

other purposes such as planning, monitoring, awareness creation on different issues related to

society in general. It will redefine the scope and execution of governance and services by augmenting

the Government citizen interface. Thus it would enable state government to offer convenient,

transparent and expeditious delivery of the government services to the citizens.

This information flow would be possible only if the Panchayats are established with suitable IT

infrastructure along with seamless connectivity and trained manpower to handle the day to day

operations and a policy in place for the optimum utilization of available IT Infrastructure.



The central aim of this project is to fully equip & make Panchayats self sufficient for governing

themselves .To make Panchayats self sufficient it is imperative to analyze the current standing of

PRI. Therefore, e-PRI project apart from ICT assessment aims at reviewing decentralization and

assessing the extent to which the Indian states have devolved administrative, political & fiscal

authority to local Panchayats. This project also aims at analyzing the capacity in terms of manpower

& infrastructure.

The project has been conceptualized to be executed in four phases mentioned as under:

�� The Initiation and Planning phase (Phase I)

�� The I&S Needs assessment phase (Phase II)

�� The Process Re-engineering phase (Phase III)

�� The DPR preparation phase (Phase IV)

The present report “Information and Service Needs Assessment Report” is the out come of the

Phase II of the project, which highlights our analysis related to information and service needs of the

PRIs, Line departments and citizens. The report is aimed at identification the needs and services

facilitating the PRIs in better service delivery. In this phase, the consultant team has captured the

information needs of the various line departments, state RD&PR department, at all levels of PRIs,

citizens, self help groups, etc vis-à-vis the expectations from the government in implementing e-PRI

project. Similarly, the service needs of the citizens has also been captured separately during the gram

Sabha held at two Gram Panchayats known as Halqa Panchayats in the village Khalleni and Drudhu

in the block Bhadarwah of the district Doda.

The team was at the State Capital in the Phase I for 2 weeks and for the next 7 weeks in the district,

block, gram to interact with state government officials of diverse departments, ex-elected members,

anaganwari workers, self help groups, NGOs, citizens, etc. in understanding their expectations.

The team also studied the existing delivery mechanism of the various government to citizen services

and based on the inputs received from various stakeholders, finalized the list of services which can

be delivered through the PRIs framework. At present these services are being delivered through the

line departments at the district and block / Taluka level.

The team had vigorous deliberation on the details of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) at the

various level of Governance with the corresponding line departments. In J&K, due to non-functioning

of the PRIs the planning, implementation, execution, and monitoring of these CSS schemes are

performed by the several committees constituted by the state government. The further study would be

re-engineering of these services.



The 73rd constitutional amendment accorded constitutional status to PRIs and it was called to devolve

29 functions as per the 11th schedule along with the functionaries and funds. However, an important

first is carrying out an ‘activity mapping’ exercise for devolution of powers to PRIs as per the

guidelines adopted at various round table conferences of state ministers of Panchayati Raj. The state

of Jammu & Kashmir lags many other states in terms of carrying out and adopting an activity mapping

exercise which will contain how the roles and responsibilities will be divided among the three tiers of

PRIs for every devolved function.

Following these sections, the report provides an overview of the state of e-Governance readiness in

J&K. The three Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under National e-Governance Plan of Department of

Information Technology, Government of India i.e. State Wide Area Network (SWAN), State Data

Cenre (SDC) and Common Service Centres (CSC) are still in the initial stage of implementation. The

Service Level Agreement has been signed by the J&K e-Governance Agency (J&KeGA), the Sate

Designated Agency, with the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, however, there are slippages in the roll out

of the CSC across state and only 50 CSCs till date could be established. SWAN is being

implemented by BSNL and earlier NIC was working as a facilitator and providing technical expertise

in the roll out of SWAN.

The report also discusses the current capacity of the PRIs at various level and their readiness and

training needs for the e-PRI project. Since the PRIs do not exists in J&K, the Government has not yet

augmented the necessary staff for the functioning of PRIs. Once PRIs comes into the picture after the

elections, the current capacity of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department is not

sufficient to efficiently delivery the services and perform the regular activities such as planning,

accounting etc. Most of the positions are vacant and the existing staff is handling additional

responsibilities.

It was noted by the consultant team that even when the Panchayats were in existence three years

back, the main activities per formed by the Panchayats were towards local level development and not

even a single service was delivered. However, it is felt that the Panchayats can play a greater role in

delivery of various citizen centric services, if devolution of funds, functions and functionaries takes

place and Panchayats are ICT enabled. The team on the basis of interactions with the state PR

Department, line departments, ex-elected members and citizens identified 15 citizen centric services

which can be delivered by the Panchayats and 5 new services as desired by the citizens.

Development of PRIs in the state of J&K will require a series of initiatives and focused approach to

tackle the peculiar problems being faced by the state. As the part of the next phase of the project an

As-Is report would be prepared for all the identified services and next step would be to carry out

Process Re-engineering. This activity will result in preparation of new workflows and cost estimates

which would facilitate the subsequent roll out of these services.



Figure 1: Appreciation Letter from Secretary RD, Govt. of J&K



Figure 2: Appreciation Letter from DDC, Doda, Govt. of J&K



2. Summary of findings

Status of Panchayati Raj:

There is no separate PR Department in the State of J&K for the execution of the functions of

Panchayati Raj Institutions. The Rural Development Department is the governing body responsible

for execution and implementation of all the activities of the PRIs.

Panchayats have been defunct from the past three years since they were dissolved in the year 2006

after the expiry of the first term. Panchayats came into being in the year 2001 after a gap of 23 years

and lasted for a period of five years. However, out of 2700 Panchayats only 1693 could be constituted

resulting in the non-formation of the second tier of Panchayats at the Block level in view of elections

in the remaining Panchayats not being held due to administrative problems resulting in non formation

of three tiers of Panchayati Raj System.

As per the act, the elections have to be held within six months of dissolution of Halqa Panchayats and

since the elections were not held, the Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj had to

think of some temporary measures like monitoring committees so that the centrally sponsored

schemes and programmes running in the villages could be continued without interruption. But they

also had an option of continuing the same Halqa Panchayats for six more months till the next

elections. But none of these measures were taken up. It has been over three years now and the

Panchayat elections still have not been announced by the government, whereas this activity could

have been done as soon as the term of the Panchayats was expired. (Refer to the Status of

Panchayati Raj Section of the document – Chapter 5)

Vision of Sate PR Department:

�� Enable PRIs to undertake need based planning at the grass-root that factors in people’s

participation in planning, implementation and monitoring functions

�� Promote the use of ICT across all the three tiers of PRIs so that transparency and

accountability gets inbuilt into the routine working of the institutions and functionaries Establish

citizen rights to services through a well defined Citizen Charter and grievance redressal

mechanism.

�� Strengthen the functioning of PRIs by providing technical support in domain areas that need

specialized skills such as estimating, planning, budgeting, setting up social indicators,

monitoring, etc.

(Refer to the Vision of State PR Department Section of the document – Section 5.2 of Chapter

5)



Devolution status:

Devolution Status of 3 F’s: The preparation of Activity Mapping Document (AMD) is of the

paramount importance which is required to actually provide detailed guidelines for devolutions of

functions, however, the state government needs to initiate / take action for making Activity mapping

document, which is important to achieve the desired state of devolution of various functions to PRIs. It

was also noted that most of the government officials are not aware about the activity mapping.

Activity Maps are key instruments to actualize constitutional provisions such as the 73rd Amendment

Act and also to provide clarity and communicate how various stakeholders have control over funds,

functionaries and functions. If correctly done and implemented, they have the potential to ease the

bandwidth of Line Departments and Senior functionaries who can focus on policy issues, strategic

aspects of schemes etc.

It was also observed that, the Panchayati Raj Act 1989 is silent about the preparation of activity

mapping document. Had it been the part of the act, each government department would have taken

the appropriate action to prepare the activity mapping documents first to align the function,

functionaries and the funds. Even though few functions have been transferred to the PRI, the

functionaries are not aligned with PRIs to take care of the devolved functions, thus defeating the

purpose of the PRI Implementation.

What is evident from the analysis of Devolution of Functions and Functionaries is that there is an

inherent fear amongst many line departments that they would loose control and the power centres

would shift if they relinquished control over functions and functionaries, even if they are to be

ultimately devolved to the PRIs in the near future.

(Refer to the Devolution Status Section of the document – Section 5.5 of Chapter 5)

The state government in the recent development has constituted a high level committee to

be chaired by Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj to look into the various

aspects of amending the Panchayati Raj Act 1989 of J&K Government.



Planning for development at village level:

In the absence of the elected members of the PRIs and the Panchayats having been dissolved, the

planning for the schemes (CSS) is being done at the village level with the concurrence of the citizens,

village level committees, VLWs and inclusion of government officials of the concerned line

departments. Each Gram Panchayat makes its plans in the Gram Sabha after prioritizing its plans in

concurrence with the village communities and in the presence of state government officials and ex-

elected members.

The plans received from various Panchayats are consolidated and compiled at the block level in the

BDO Office, since BDC does not exist, all the plans received from each Halqa are compiled at the

office of Assistant Commissioner Development, at the district level and under the Chairmanship of

DDC, the plans are approved for a particular district and the approved plans are sent to the State

department.

The consultant team observed that further to the 73rd & 74th Constitutional Amendments, the focus

should have been more on the local level planning along with the setting up of District Planning

Committees (DPCs). The setting up of the DPCs and the process of district planning are inherent

parts of the Constitutional Amendments, since the district planning is a constitutional responsibility.

There has been considerable delay in the setting up of the DPCs.

The consultant team feels that local planning is essential because effective planning rests on inputs

from the bottom up, starting from a family to the community to the village to the state and, finally, the

national decision-makers. National planning can be appropriately designed by the government in

power and there can be proper devolution of funds only on this basis.

It was also observed that the government at any level is not using any IT application or software

package for making plans for any of the scheme. Recently, a presentation was made by Chandigarh

based organization for using the PlanPlus software developed by NIC in making the plans for the

BRGF scheme.

(Refer to the Planning Section of the document – Section 5.10.1 of Chapter 5)

The interesting and a unique thing observed by the consultant team is that the cabinet of

ministers lead by Chief Minister moves from district to district in state and approves the

various developmental plan then and there only. All the important functionaries of the

government from the state and the district attend this mega conference.



Information & Services Need of the Citizens and other line departments

To understand the information & services needs of the various beneficiaries, the team had rigorous

interactions at all levels of PRIs. The team found out that the basic essential services is not being

delivered through any level of PRIs and the citizens are desperately waiting for the Panchayats to

come into being so that their demands are fulfilled at the GP level in the best possible way. The team

had rigorous interactions at various levels of governance and at all the tiers of PRIs to identify the

information needs with respect to planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and accounting

with respect to different centrally sponsored schemes, central sector schemes, state sponsored

schemes, etc.

In order to gauge the intensity of the needs of the citizens with respect to various services which can

be delivered across the PRI framework, consultant team along with the local administration

conducted Gram Sabhas at two different places in the Bhadarwah block of the Doda District. The

villages were Dhrudu and Khalleni. The objective of conducting two Gram Sabhas were to have a

better understanding and better need assessment of the citizens in the state and also to apprise the

people about the objective of the ePRI and how it can be helpful to the citizens. The participants of

the Gram Sabha were Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, Teachers, Ex-Sarpanch, Panchayat

Secretary, Block Development Officer and various social help groups including the citizens from all

walks of life.

The methodology used to interact with the citizens was Gram Sabhas and one on one interaction.

The soul objective of the discussion was to gauge the efficiency of services provided, take their

suggestions to improve the existing service delivery and also to understand their expectation of new

services that they wanted to have at Gram level. The Panchayat Secretary or the Village Level

Worker plays crucial role in educating the people about various schemes.

During the Gram Sabha, the consultant team found that the citizens were not much aware about the

roles and responsibilities of the Panchayats. They were more or less dependent on the Block

Development Officer for deriving any kind of benefits. However, the people had sufficient knowledge

about various schemes that were in operation and had projected their needs and requirements.

Expectations of Rural Citizen are availability of Government Services at their doorstep in a convenient

manner. Besides that the citizens are more concerned about the awareness regarding the process of

delivery of services like finding the right application form for the particular services which is a very

difficult task for majority of people living in the rural areas since most of them are illiterate. The other

demand from the citizens was regarding payments of utility bills such as electricity, water, telephone.

(Refer to the Information & Services Needs Section of the document –Chapter 6)



e-Governance readiness:

The government of J&K during the interaction at different level of governance bought out that

because of insurgency, security concerns and various other issues, the government could not make

the ideal use of ICT. The one area which remained neglected is the usage of ICT for the

developmental purposes. The ICT, if implemented few years back, could have made the remarkable

impact on the overall progress of the state.

Department of Information Technology, Government of India, has established the Community

Information Centres (CICs) in the state of J&K with the objective to address the basic needs of

citizens such as information, education, entertainment and health services, etc.

DIT had funded the project and has the responsibility of overall monitoring and management. NIC

was the Implementation agency. Application Software development and Training of CIC Operators

were a part of NIC’s responsibilities. The State Governments were entrusted with the mandate of site

selection, preparation and maintenance, manpower recruitment and identification and creation of

content for various services/applications to be delivered through the CICs.

As per the arrangement, DIT/NIC has provided the manpower support and technical and

maintenance for the period of five years along with satellite connectivity through the V-SATs.

However, the consultant team observed that, further to the handing over of the CICs to the state

governments, most of the CICs are non-functional either because of not having the proper AMC with

the vendors or because the state governments could not evolve a viable and sustainable business

model to make the CICs self-sustaining during these five years.

(Refer to the e-Governance Readiness Section of the document –Chapter 7)

Capacity Assessment :

During the capacity assessment, it was found that the state of J&K is lacking in terms of trained

manpower vis-à-vis the inadequate staff in the government offices and extra responsibilities are being

handed over to the present staff by the government. Since the PRIs do not exists in J&K, the

manpower for the PRIs has not been identified by the state government and the work related to PRIs

is being done by the RD department, thus they are overloaded with assignments.

�� Non existence of PRI: To function as a true local self government, the foremost importanat

thing is to have the PRIs in place and then it requires a strong technical & administrative

capacity along with strong financial base. To achieve “Gram Swaraj”, PRIs should be

devolved more and more functions with adequate manpower to handle the activities related

to local level development and for redressal of grievances.



�� Low literacy rate of elected members: One of the reasons for inadequate performance of

Panchayats during there existence is the low literacy rate of the elected members. During the

interaction with various citizens during the Gram Sabha and also with the government officials,

the strong demand has been raised for the literate elected members. The other aspect of

having a educated Sarpanch is that, only Sarpanch in the whole governance is having both

the powers i.e. the administrative and financial powers. It was brought out to the consultant

team that since, the uneducated elected members do not understand government policies,

plans, their roles & responsibilities etc., they are actually driven by the dominant person from

the local area who has vested interest in something without looking at the other aspects of the

development or priority of others.

�� There is also a need to impart proper training to the government officials of various line

departments and elected members of PRIs. Institute of Management, Public administration &

Rural Development, J&K, has conducted few training sessions for the elected members and at

all levels of PRIs when they were in existence, under the UNDP supported project, after

carrying out the training need assessments.

(Refer to the Capacity Assessment Section of the document –Chapter 8)

General findings

�� Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. This

article specifies that except for Defense, Foreign Affairs and Communications, the Indian

Parliament needed the State Government's concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus the

state's residents lived under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship,

ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians.

�� Article 370 therefore provides for greater sovereignty for Jammu and Kashmir as far as the

matters of the state are concerned. Therefore even in the case of 73rd amendment that lays

down principles for devolution through panchayati raj institutions the state has the prerogative

to include or exclude provisions of this amendment as per its needs.

�� Low reaches of service delivery; citizen needs to travel to district / Tehsil to avail services

through the departments since the Panchayats had been dissolved.

�� Citizens in state are not satisfied with the current service delivery model, since lot of time is

consumed in current service delivery mechanism.

�� Most of the office work is done manually, thus increasing paper work. Due to lack of any IT

applications/ software/ automation tool, the quality of service is severely affected.



�� Awareness: The citizens at the village level are not much aware about the various schemes

that are being implemented by different departments in J&K. The awareness is only for few

prominent schemes like NREGS, IAY, Scholarship, Pension, TSC etc. The citizens are also

not aware about the effectiveness of the Panchayats, their rules and regulations. Awareness

of villagers about roles / responsibilities of Panchayat and about services offered was poor.

�� Shifting of Secretariat: The officials of the civil secretariat switch between Jammu and

Srinagar after every six months. This practice is being followed since decades and is a time,

money and effort consuming activity.

�� Infrastructural issues: There is a shortage of Panchayat Ghars in the state of J&K. Most of

the villages are deprived of the same and use cow sheds and schools as their place of

meeting and conducting Gram Sabha. Limited availability of electricity in the state and

inadequate physical infrastructure at Gram Panchayats are some of the infrastructural issues.

�� Forming up of Committees: In place of the Panchayats, the government has made various

committees for execution of work. These committees form as an important part and work in

place of the Halqa Panchayats at present.

Elections: Despite of the adverse conditions in J&K in the year 2001, the government of J&K

did a commendable job by holding elections of the Panchayats. This step has been very

fruitful for the economy of J&K, as it has changed the whole perception of the people of rest

of India and had also boosted up the confidence of the local citizens towards local self

governance. However, the same momentum can not be retained by the government, though

the citizens are still eagerly waiting for the elections to be held.



3. Project Background

Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in India are a homegrown effort to decentralize Government to

promote greater participation by the rural populace in their own governance. This process of

democratic decentralization was set in motion with the Constitution (Seventy Third Amendment) Act

passed by the Indian Parliament in 1992, which enabled decentralized governance through PRIs in

rural areas.

PRIs function at the village, intermediate (block) and district level. There are approximately 2,34,030

Gram Panchayats at the village level, 6053 Janpad Panchayats at the block level and 535 Zilla

Panchayats at the district level with more than 31 lakhs elected representatives at all three tiers.

“Article 243-G of the Constitution of India, provides that the States/UTs may, by law, endow the

Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as

institutions of self-government and to prepare plans for economic development and social justice and

their implementation including those in relation to the matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule.”

PRIs offer India’s rural villagers an opportunity to participate in village planning processes, to engage

with the various developmental schemes being implemented by the Government and to interact with

their elected representatives directly to ensure that their interests are being effectively served and

their money properly spent.

While PRIs are an excellent initiative but have so far remained in theory, reality has been less

positive, as many PRIs have been criticized for poor representation, failure to implement the

participatory decisions of their constituencies and mismanagement of funds. In this context, citizen

participation in Panchayat institutions is more meaningful when people have the information to make

informed choices and to participate in decision-making processes based on facts, not rumors and

half-truths.

The PRIs are also saddled with the problems of inadequate capacity vis-à-vis physical and financial

resources, technical capabilities and extremely limited computerization. This has limited the

usefulness of PRIs as the preferred delivery channel for the schemes of State and Centre as well as

for citizen services.

Computerization & IT enablement of Government functioning has received a high impetus with the

implementation of the NeGP of GoI and various states have realized the importance of e-

Governance.



This has led to a concerted thrust towards computerizing the functioning of the state line departments

in most of the states. The result of this is cognizable and has brought in its wake significant

efficiencies in the departmental functioning.

While some computerization efforts for PRIs have been made by NIC over the years; unfortunately,

the e-Governance revolution sweeping the country has not touched the PRIs yet in significant

measure. The Government of India in association with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has realized this

and decided to take up the computerization of PRIs on a mission mode basis.

The Ministry for Panchayati Raj (MoPR) is keen on executing the computerization of PRIs in a fast

track and time bound manner. To achieve this, MoPR in association with NIC has conceptualized a

nation-wide study to take stock of the needs of citizens as well as various government entities

involved in the delivery of developmental schemes and services. This study is expected to result in

drafting the requirements of computerization for PRIs across the country and is being undertaken

across 27 states within duration of 23 weeks.

Under the broad umbrella of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), bringing ICT to Panchayats

has been conceptualized. It has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs as

one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMP). This MMP, which is a State MMP, has been named as ‘e-

Panchayati Raj Institutions’ or e-PRI in short. Interestingly, the e-PRI MMP aligns itself as one of the

most important MMPs in realizing the NeGP Vision as articulated below.

In order to achieve its vision and objectives, e-PRI MMP envisages implementation of various

application modules covering the following services / management functions within various levels of

PRIs including the Gram Panchayats:

�� Issue of Trade Licenses and NOCs

�� House Related Services

�� Certificate of Birth and Death, Income and Solvency

�� Dissemination of Internal Process of Panchayat agenda, voting, resolution

�� Copy of Proceedings of Gram Sabha and Action Taken Report

�� Receipt of Funds / Progress Report

�� Dissemination of Data BPL, PF for Landless Agricultural Laborers, education, Health facilities

& status and digitization of the Village Infrastructure on a Map

�� Use of National Panchayat Portal (http://panchayat.nic.in) for display of information and

sharing of best practices



This initiative poses unique challenges, as the coverage of the program is in itself unprecedented not

only in India but perhaps globally too. The geographic and demographic coverage of the program,

therefore, makes it a challenging initiative to rollout.

In addition, the level of devolution of powers to Gram Panchayats across the country varies

depending upon the administrative arrangements in a particular State/UT. This implies that the

services that could be delivered to the citizens by Village Panchayats in one State/UT could differ

from another. Consequently, design of the process re-engineering, computerization and capacity

building program would face significant challenges. This also leads to related challenges around

stakeholder’s involvement in the program.

The project execution primarily was carried out across the following five tiers:

�� Ministry of Panchayati Raj (or ‘Ministry’) level

�� State level

�� Zilla Panchayat level

�� Block Panchayat level

�� Village Panchayat level

The study comprises of four distinct phases, namely:

Table 1: Various Phases of Study

Phase Name Timeline

Phase I Inception & Planning for the Study 04th Jun 2009 to 21

st Jun 2009

Phase II Information and Service Needs Analysis (ISNA) 22nd

Jun 2009 to 21st Aug 2009

Phase III Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) 24th Aug 2009 to 16

th Oct 2009

Phase IV Preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) 19th Oct 2009 to 13

th Nov 2009



4. Approach & Methodology

This section outlines the Approach and Methodology of study for the e-PRI project. It provides overall

view of the project across four phases and dwells deep on the current phase by discussing aspects

such as study methodology, stakeholders consulted, data gathering tools used and challenges faced

in executing this phase (Information & Services Needs Assessment).

4.1. Overall e-PRI Project Approach

It is important to have a well defined approach and methodology for executing a project of this

magnitude in the desired timeframe. Accordingly, a four phase approach has been designed

as illustrated below:

Figure 3: Overall e-PRI Approach

Phase I: The Initiation and Planning

In this phase the focus is primarily on setting the tone for execution of the project. The key

outcomes of this phase were identification of stakeholders and the consultation mechanism

and formalizing the deliverable templates. During this phase data gathering tools and

templates were also prepared, which were targeted on focused information capture.



Phase II: The INS Needs assessment

This is the current phase of the project in which the team undertook a field study in Srinagar,

Doda and Bhadarwah between 22nd June 2009 to 21st August 2009. This report is the output

of Phase-II. Four broad areas were studied in this phase by interacting with relevant

stakeholders. The areas of study are:

�� Execution of Centrally Sponsored Schemes with respect to aspects of Planning,

Fund flow, Implementation, Monitoring & Reporting: The team studied the role of PRIs,

if any, and got to know issues, challenges, best practices and information requirements

as articulated by the nodal departments concerned with the scheme execution in J&K.

�� PRI Domain study: The team assessed the state of devolution of powers to PRIs and

staff capacities in PRIs to understand what are the current issues & challenges faced

by them in attaining complete self-governance as envisaged in the 73rd Amendment

Act.

�� Citizen Service Delivery from PRIs and Citizen Needs: The team studied citizen

services provided by the Gram Panchayats using a bottom-up approach & identified

additional services that can be offered by the Gram Panchayats, which comprises of

Elected Representatives & Government Machinery closest to the Citizens.

�� ICT & Capacity Building Assessment: The team assessed capacity in terms of ICT

infrastructure, ability to collect local data, ability to plan from grass-roots using a

participative approach, ability to monitor at the grass-roots through Social Audit, ability

to prepare funding proposals & knowledge about roles, responsibilities &

accountabilities of PRIs.

This report shall be submitted to the SIO, NIC, J&K and the same report is to be submitted to

the state government. A subset of this report was presented to the District Administration and

DIO, NIC, Doda. The brief on the report and findings were given through the power point

presentation in the workshop organized at the Doda on 22nd Aug 2009, wherein the officials of

the line departments were also present. The report was approved then and there only by the

Deputy Commissioner, Doda in the presence of the officials of all the line departments.

This phase involved interactions, including surveys, with the identified stakeholders. This

phase resulted in forming an understanding of the needs of the stakeholders and helped in

identification of the services. The citizen centric services that are currently being delivered &

the services that are expected to be delivered through PRIs were also identified and studied.



Phase III: The Process Re-engineering

Phase III of the project is aimed at completing Process Mapping of short listed Services and

Process Reengineering of the same. It is envisaged that a BPR framework would be worked

out by central Team present at New Delhi in concurrence with the MoPR & NIC and the core

team based on which the BPR would be undertaken. The state stakeholders from PR

Department & Line Departments would be taken into confidence while reengineering the

processes. The outcome of this phase would be a BPR report to be submitted to the state

stakeholders & MoPR.

This phase would entail the in-depth analysis of the identified services and creating AS-IS

process document. This will lead to the To-Be scenario, where the services would be re-

engineered for optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery.

Phase IV: The DPR preparation phase

Phase IV deals with preparation of the DPR report which would contain the way forward for

realizing the e-PRI MMP through Capacity building, ICT Infrastructure building, legal changes

to be brought about, business models, timelines and budget requirements. The team would

work with state stakeholders from PR Department & NIC-J&K to define the DPR. This report

would be submitted to the State stakeholders & MoPR. End of this phase marks the

culmination of e-PRI MMP preparatory study. This phase will be the eventual outcome of the

study where apart from State specific DPR; a national DPR would also be prepared. This

national DPR would be shared with the respective states to enable them to directly undertake

implementation of e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions.

4.2. Study Methodology

This section comprises of sub sections dealing with how stakeholders were identified and what

kind of interactions happened with them. The team interacted with Line Departments & PRIs to

understand CSS related details. They interacted with Line Departments, PRIs & NIC to

understand the status of ICT & Capacity building. The team also interacted with PRIs, Citizens

& Elected representatives to understand Citizen Service Requirements. Subsequent sections

deal with this in detail.



Stakeholder consultation

Establishing Project Core Team: This included setting up a Project Execution Unit (PEU)1, a

Central team comprising of representatives from MoPR, NIC and the consulting firms, to

provide a day to day support and guidance to the state teams. The PEU acted as the core

team at the central level entrusted with tasks such as identification of various stakeholders,

orientation of the field teams, establishing reporting and escalation mechanisms, providing

ongoing guidance and support. The core team was also responsible for the co-ordination of

the designated field teams for each of the states/UTs undertaking the INS Study. The core

team identified a set of about 30 centrally sponsored schemes spread across 11 CLMs that

should be taken up for study. The criterion used for selecting these schemes was that there

should be an existing or envisaged role of PRIs in the scheme execution.

Central Line Ministry Study: The project started with a National Kick-off chaired by the

Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and was attended by the senior officials from various

stakeholder line ministries. The group of 12 consultants2 was formed to conduct this study

over a period of 2 weeks. The teams assigned ministries and were responsible for interviewing

stakeholders from the Central Line Ministries (CLM) to capture information relating to the

implementation of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and to understand the

expectations of the CLMs from the ePRI project. The key CLMs covered were:

�� Ministry of Agriculture – Department of Agriculture

�� Ministry of Woman and Child Development - Department of Woman & Child

Development

�� Ministry of Rural Development-Department of Rural Development, Department of Land

Records, Department of Drinking Water Supply

�� Ministry of Tribal Affairs - Department of Tribal Affairs

�� Ministry of Health & Family Welfare - Department of health & Family Welfare

�� Ministry of Social Justices & Empowerment - Department of Social Justice &

Empowerment

�� Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports - Department of Sports

�� Ministry of Human Resource Development – Department of School Education &

Literacy

�� Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

�� Department of IT and Ministry of Panchayati Raj

1 The PEU consists of one member from each of the four consultancy forms that are involved in ePRI project

and have the direct interface with the client i.e. MoPR 2 The team of 12 comprised of three principle consultants from each of the consulting firms.



Field study for identifying INS needs of Citizens: The field teams comprised of the SIO/DIOs of

the State/District, the team of consultants from M/s. 3i-infotech Ltd. and the domain experts drawn

from NGOs, Community Building Organizations, retired PR officials. The study was conducted across

all the three tiers of Panchayati Raj administration, namely District / Zila Panchayat, Block Panchayat,

Gram Panchayat, which led to the identification of information and services needs of citizens.

State level

Initially the field team held discussion with the State Panchayati Raj department to gain the

knowledge of the PRI framework established by the State under the State Panchayat Raj Act. The

consultant team gathered information on various schemes, centrally & state sponsored, that were

being provided to the citizens, using questionnaires and discussions with various state line

departments. The consultant team also met support departments and agencies such as Department

of Information Technology, J&KeGA etc. for the assessment of the existing technology infrastructure

being implemented within the state.

The consultant team observed and examined various artifacts such as the department annual report,

citizen charters, status reports for the projects under implementation, accounting & monitoring reports

etc., to support the captured information and discussions. The team spent approximately two weeks

at the state level to collect required information.

State level Workshop

Figure 4: State Level Workshop

As a part of assessment study a work

shop was held at state capital Srinagar

on 3rd July 2009, which was chaired by

The Secretary, Rural Development

Department, to apprise the participants

regarding the objective of the project.

The important functionaries of the

various line departments of the state

Government had attended this

workshop. Prior to the workshop, the

team had visited each line department

and encouraged them to participate in

the workshop and also briefed the Secretaries / Directors of the each department individually

regarding the importance and urgency of the project. In the workshop the team has again interacted

individually with each department with respect to the various schemes being executed by them.



Figure 5: District Level Workshop

The identical exercise was

carried out at the district wherein

the workshop was conducted to

apprise the participants

regarding the project objective &

the assistance required from line

departments. Further to that, a

Gram Sabhas at the Halqa

Panchayat level was conducted

with the help of block level

officials to understand the basic

needs of the various citizens

with respect to the government service delivery and the expectations from the e-PRIs by the various

stake holders like line departments, district office, block level office, citizens, etc.

Figure 6: Press Note on District Workshop

Key officials met in the district

administration included District

Development Commissioner,

Assistant Commissioner

Development, Project Officer -

DRDA & various committees

formed by the government. The

consultant team, wherever

possible, also attended the

committee meetings to

understand the ground work being

undertaken by them.

The consultant team spent about

2 weeks at the district level to

collect the required information for

the study.



Block & Village Level

Figure 7: Gram Sabha at Village

At the Block Panchayat and

Village Panchayat level the

consultant team, apart from

interacting with the government

officials also undertook

interactions with the villagers by

organizing a Gram Sabha and

discussions with focused groups.

The consultant team organized

two3 Gram Sabhas and met the relevant stakeholders to understand their needs of new

services and the actual implementation of various schemes at the ground level. Team also

met the common villagers and inquired about their wish list from the Panchayat. The teams

later translated the villager’s wish list into new services that can be offered through various

levels of PRIs.

The consultant team also enquired about the existing technology and related infrastructure

such as buildings, electricity availability, network connectivity etc. at each level of the PRI.

Identification of interviewee groups

The core team identified the various interviewee groups. The consultant team prepared and

customized questionnaires and data gathering templates for these interviewee groups and

finalized a comprehensive list of interviewees based on discussions with state level

stakeholders including state and district administration. The list included the following:

�� Ex-Panchayat officials and support staff – The list included District Administration

officers, Gram Panchayat members and support staff in the village such as Primary

Health Workers, Anganwadi workers, Agriculture/Irrigation officer, Watershed

Committee, Forest Committee, SSA Committee, Health Committee, etc.

�� Villagers & Village Organizations – This group included the village level committees

formed at the lower level of the PRI, citizens, etc.

�� Specific focus groups - Additional discussions have been conducted with specific focus

groups such as farmers, teachers, youth, women, rural health officer, SC/ST families,

minorities etc.

3 The two Gram Sabhas were conducted at Khalleni and Dhrudu, Doda District, J&K and the strength of the

Sabha was over 30 each time.



Data gathering tool

Data gathering tool is very concisely, preplanned set of questions designed to yield specific

information to meet a particular need of the project. The questionnaires are very specific &

simple. Data gathering tool was the out come of months of secondary research & multiple

sittings with authorities involved in the project. Due care has been taken to make the data

gathering tool simple so that it is acceptable by both interviewee & interviewer. Data gathering

tools helps in quantitative research and precise and desired outcome.

Interview questionnaires

Exhaustive templates were formulated by the core team based on the project scope and the

information required were then circulated to the consultant teams. All the relevant information

based on the objective of the template was captured based on their interactions with the

identified stakeholders. Consultant teams observed and examined various artifacts at various

levels to support the information captured during the INS Study.

Data capturing templates

The following are the various sections that were captured by the consultant team with the help

of various questionnaires at State level, District level and Gram level. Different parts were

covered at different levels. All the topics that were covered are listed in the form of a table as

under:

Table 2: Topics covered in Templates

Sr. No. Sections State level District level Gram Level

1. PR Governance √ √

2. Government of Citizen Services √

3. Panchayat Schemes √ √

4. Current ICT assessment √ √

5. ICT Capacity Assessment of PR staff √ √

6. Planning & Implementing √ √

7. Accounting Practices √ √

8. Transparency Assessment √ √

9. Expectations from e-PRI √ √ √

10. Focused group discussions √

11. Awareness about the schemes & services √

12. Service Delivery √



4.3. Services identification methodology

One of the objectives of the project is to provide services to the citizen at their door step with

ICT enablement of the PRIs at all the tiers and to provide these services at their door step, it is

imperative to identify the first list of indicative services. The methodology for identifying those

services is explained diagrammatically.

Figure 8: Services Identification Methodology

To identify the services need of the citizen the first step was to identify the services provided

by Panchayat, which is available in most of the states in the Activity Mapping Document,

which states the involvement of three tiers of PRI in different department & its activities. Since

this document is not prepared by the department, the first draft of the services were identified

based on the discussion with their officials.



The project envisages the study and subsequent re-engineering of the two broad categories of

services namely G2G services and G2C services. The project scope includes identification of

15 existing services to be identified for re-engineering for each state and 5 new services. The

methodology for the services identification can be given as follows:

�� Step1: Define broad list of services to be studied. This was done based on extensive

interactions with various levels of officials at the Center, including central line ministries

and conducting various surveys like departmental surveys, internet surveys, state

based surveys etc. the indicative list of services was recognize. The services identified

at this step are the umbrella list of services which were refined subsequently at the

state level. The team had visited websites of various departments, states, CSCs

website and also referred to the RFPs prepared for the selection of SCAs for the

implementation of CSC project.

�� Step2: Define state specific list of services from the umbrella list of services finalized at

the central level based on interactions at the Central Ministry level. Further to

identification of approximately seventy services, the same was presented to the State

Government for their deliberation.

�� Step3: Consultation with line Departments: After a series of discussions with the

various line departments at the state level and at the time of the state level workshop,

the list was further improved upon.

�� Step4: Consultation with District Officials: While carrying on the discussions with

various officials at the District level, consequently, the list was further improved upon

considering several parameters like volume of transactions, demand by the citizens

during Gram Sabha and other informal discussions, etc.

�� Step5: Consultation with Target Beneficiaries: The Gram Sabha / Halqa Majlis were

organized at two places in the Bhadarwah block of Doda district to understand the

requirements of the citizens. At the end of this robust exercise the list of 15 services

were identified which can be delivered through the various levels of PRI framework and

specially through Gram Panchayats once they are in existence.

�� Step6:- Further to the completion of study on information & services needs of the

various stake holders, a district level workshop was organized wherein the officials of

all the line departments were present.



�� The purpose of the workshop was to apprise the district administration to get the

feedback on the study report being submitted and the gaps identified during the study

with respect to the functioning PRIs, Based on the inputs received during the workshop

the list of identified services was further improved upon and finalized.

Figure 9: Department wise service chart

7

3

3

11

1 1

Department wise services

Revenue

Police

Social welfare

Agriculture

Electricity

Rural Development

PHE

Figure 10: Type of Services

(Refer Section 9.1 for list of Services identified)



5. Status of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)

This section deals with the Status of PRIs from multiple perspectives like PRI organization structure

and its current assessment of progress of PRIs as institution of local governance, the status of

devolution of 3Fs, status of Activity Mapping, status of PR governance in terms of Planning,

Monitoring, Implementation and Accounting and highlights any learning / best practice.

Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act formulated in the year 1989 had provided a three-tier

Panchayat system. These tiers were Halqa Panchayat at the Village level, the Block Development

Council (BDC) at the Block level and District Planning & Development Board (DPDB) at the District

level. Panchayats came into being in the year 2001 after a gap of 23 years and lasted for a period of

five years. However, out of 2700 Panchayats only 1693 could be constituted resulting in the non-

formation of the second tier of Panchayats at the Block level in view of elections in the remaining

Panchayats not being held due to administrative problems. Thus, Jammu & Kashmir had never been

able to implement the three tiers of Panchayati Raj System.

The Panchayats were dissolved in the year 2006 and since then, the elections have not been held

due to varying reasons. Circular No. 8 of the department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj,

Government of J&K, notified the dissolution of Halqa Panchayats as their term of office had ‘expired’

and in place of them appointed monitoring committees and also stressed the need for involving Halqa

Majlis (Gram Sabha) for the formulation of plans, their periodical appraisal and social auditing. The

secretary of the concerned Panchayat is responsible to ensure this. Further the Halqa Majlis has to

select members for the monitoring committee that will monitor the work undertaken by the

department. The funds that have been transferred to Panchayats under different scheme as per

guidelines are being operated jointly by the Block Development Officer and Panchayat Secretary.

Presently, the functions of the Panchayats are being performed by different committees at the village

level with the support of the ex-members of the Panchayati Raj who were once in power and are

working like an advisory body to blocks. Although, these members work voluntarily, they cannot

exercise any controlling influence. These committees are actively involved in planning,

implementation and monitoring of different schemes in the village. The structure of the J&K

Panchayati Raj system wrt the PRIs is mapped as under:



Table 3: Panchayati Raj Act Mapping

Sr. No. As per the PRI As per the J&K

Panchayati Raj Act 1989

Current Status Gap Analysis

1 Gram Panchayat Halqa Panchayat Dissolved Elections to be held in the month of Oct / Nov 2009

2 Block Panchayat / Panchayat Samiti

Block Development Council Not available Required to be constituted

3 Zilha Parishad District Planning Development Board

Physical Structure not available

Required to be constituted

4 District Planning Committee (DPC)

Not available Not available Required to be constituted

5 State Finance Commission (SFC)

SFC Existing None

6 Reservation of SC / ST

Amendment was carried out in 1989 act in the year 2003 to accommodate the PRI recommendations

Existing None

7 System of checks & balances

Social Audit Existing None

Present Status of Panchayats

In the state of J&K, after delimitation, the total numbers of Panchayats as of today are 4139 as

compared to the 2700 Panchayats available in the year 2001. The district wise details are as under:

Table 4: Panchayats Status

Sr. No. District Before de-limitation After delimitation

1 Srinagar 10

2 Ganderbal

93

104

3 Pulwama 186

4 Shopian

236

103

5 Anantnag 294

6 Kulgam

309

165

7 Budgam 199 283

8 Baramulla 365

9 Bandipua

276

113

10 Kupwara 224 359



Sr. No. District Before de-limitation After delimitation

11 Leh 65 93

12 Kargil 68 95

13 Jammu 297

14 Samba

295

99

15 Kathua 183 245

16 Udhampur 204

17 Reasi

215

147

18 Doda 232

19 Kishtwar 134

20 Ramban

262

124

21 Rajouri 160 296

22 Poonch 115 191

Total 2700 4139

Panchayats Assets

The Panchayats in a period of five years have created certain assets in the state of Jammu &

Kashmir. The details of which are as follows:

Table 5: Panchayat Assets

Sr. No. Name of the asset Unit Total

1 Land Hectares 3482

2 Roads-Surfaced/un-surfaced Kilometers 6906

3 Plantations Hectares 2231

4 Buildings No. 4818

5 Irrigation Khuls Rmts. 2.16 lacs

6 Culverts No. 6364

7 Lanes and drains Kilometers 7714

8 Tanks and Ponds No. 2416

9 Others No. 80913



5.1. Vision of State PR Department

As mentioned earlier, there is no separate PR Department in the State for the execution of the

functions of Panchayati Raj Institutions. The Rural Development Department is the governing

body responsible for execution and implementation of various activities of the PRIs.

Delineation of authority

The Rural Development Department has a buoyant approach towards re-formation of the

Panchayati Raj in J&K. The department believes in delineating authority to the PRIs by giving

them full independence to take decisions. The vision of the department is in accordance with

the objective of e-PRI, which means the department buys the bottom to top approach with the

powers vested to Panches & Sarpanches for the local self governance. The Department

wishes to provide all kind of services to the citizens under one roof with accountability and

transparency in the processes.

Active participation

The department opines that the Panchayat should have a supervisory role in all kind of

activities along with shifting of the functions and the functionaries of the core activities. All the

schemes that are centrally sponsored, state sponsored, centrally sectored etc. must be rooted

from the PRIs so that they can decide what is good and bad for them.

Efficient planning

Enable the efficient planning and implementation of specially targeted programmes and works

for rural development, especially for the up-liftment of the rural poor. Support the

empowerment and capacity building of Panchayat Raj institutions to enable them to use their

resources effectively and efficiently for development. This includes planning, implementation,

monitoring, accounting, and other aspects of administration.

In a nutshell, the vision of State RD & PR Department is to:

�� Holding Panchayati Elections in the month of Oct / Nov 2009 is the utmost priority of

the state of J&K.

�� Enable PRIs to undertake need based planning at the grass-root that factors in

people’s participation in planning, implementation and monitoring functions.

�� Build a social accountability framework by creating awareness about the role of Gram

Sabha as the Voice of Citizens so that it can counter balance any unjustifiable

deviations in the local development agenda by actively participating in the processes



�� Create capacity at the grass root so that PRIs are able to discharge their duties

responsibly by adhering to good governance principles (perhaps by defining a

Standard Operating Procedure Manual which incorporates these principles)

�� Promote the use of ICT across all the tiers of PRIs so that transparency and

accountability gets inbuilt into the routine working of the institutions and functionaries

Establish citizen rights to services through a well defined Citizen Charter and grievance

redressal mechanism

�� Strengthen the functioning of PRIs by providing technical support in domain areas that

need specialized skills such as estimating, planning, budgeting, setting up social

indicators, monitoring, etc.

5.2. Panchayati Raj Organization Structure

This section outlines the PR organizational structure at Jammu & Kashmir. It covers the

hierarchy at the State Level and the PRIs. In the section on PRI structure, the report covers

the status of the PRIs as per the Panchayati Raj Act 1989, structure at the time when

Panchayats were in place and the situation at present.

State PR Department

The Rural Development Department attains the present stature courtesy Panchayati Raj

Institutions in state because of the non entity of the PR Department in the state. All the

functions & duties of the PR Department are efficiently being performed by the Rural

Department. The Department is headed by the Secretary followed by the Additional Secretary,

Director and Project Director. The Director has the Assistant Commissioner Development

under him followed by the Block Development officer at the Block level and later, the

Panchayat members.



Figure 11: Organization Structure State PR Department

District Administration

The District administration at the District has the District Development Commissioner / Deputy

Commissioner at the top of the hierarchy, followed by the Assistant District Development

Commissioner. The Project Director – DRDA performs the functions of ADDC in the Doda

District of J&K. Under his governance in RDD, there is Assistant Commissioner Development

followed by the Block Development Officer and Inspector Panchayat and members.

It was observed by the consultant team that the Govt of JJ&K follows the single line

administration in the district, due to which DDC is brought at the centre-stage of the planning

process and all district level officers put under his administrative control for purposes of

preparation, monitoring and implementation of plans. DRDA also brought within the purview

of DDC as Chairman DRDA. De-centralised planning process set in motion in 1976 introduced

by late Jenab Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Sahib.



The chief administrative authority within the district vests in the Deputy Commissioner, who

more due to single line administration is not only District Magistrate and Collector but for all

intents and purposes, is also the head of all the district level offices. In addition to the usual

and traditional role as Deputy Commissioner he has multifarious duties. As Deputy

Commissioner, he is the executive head of the District looking after development, Panchayats,

local bodies and civil administration. As District Magistrate, he is responsible for the

maintenance of law and order and is the head of Police and prosecuting agency in the district.

As Collector he is at the apex of the revenue administration and is responsible for the

collection of land-revenue and all dues recoverable as arrears of land-revenue. He is also

revenue-applause authority. He ensures the successful execution of plan-schemes and co-

ordinates the functions of all development departments and in fact due to the peculiar

circumstances and situation of the area his functions are largely those of a Development

Officer. In order to avoid procedural delays and in the interest of early disposal of work, he has

been given special and enhanced powers. He has been declared Head of Department for all

offices functioning in the district.

In addition to the above the Deputy Commissioner has been invested with so many other

administrative and financial powers. The Deputy Commissioner is also the disciplinary

authority and is competent to take disciplinary action in matters concerning non-gazetted staff

posted in the district. He can order any punishment, short of dismissal and removal from

service. This arrangement has been made to ensure smooth working in the area because of

its remoteness.

The concentration of powers in the Deputy Commissioner is primarily to ensure the speedy

disposal of work and execution of development schemes. These arrangements have worked

very well. The people, who were hitherto unused to the immediate presence of a high

powered executive and were, therefore initially apprehensive, that the induction of such an

elaborate administrative machinery might mean a certain curtailment of their idyllic freedom,

are now convinced that from small waziris to a sub-tehsil and then to a full-fledged district, the

change has been all along for the better.



Figure 12: Organization Structure District Administration

Panchayati Raj Institutions structure:

This section is dedicated for PR organization structure. It covers the organization structure at

state Panchayati Raj Department, organization structure of District Planning Development

Board, Block Development Council & Halqa Panchayat.

District Planning Development Board (DPDB):

As per the J&K Panchayati Raj Act 1989

The State Act prescribes District Planning & Development Board which is a combination of the

Urban and Rural local bodies. The State Act does not provide for a Zilla Panchayat

independently apart from District Planning & Development Board. The DPDB comprises of the

following:

�� Chairman of the Block Development Council

�� Member of the Parliament representing the area

�� Members of State Legislature representing the areas within the district

�� Chairmen of Town Area Committees at the District

�� President of the Municipal Council, if any



Figure 13: District Planning & Development Board

The chairman of the Board is nominated by the Government from amongst the members of

the DPDB. The vice-chairman shall be elected by the members of the DPDB and no

government nomination is accepted. The District Development Commissioner acts as the

Chief Executive Officer of the DPDB.

Findings by the team:

Since the DPDB / DP do not have a physical structure at the district level, the DPDB/ DP do

not have staff of its own. Out of 29 subjects to be devolved, only few functions have been

devolved to the PRI, however, functionaries associated with the line departments are not

devolved at any level of PRI framework and even not placed at the disposal of DPDB. Even

the DP office does not have any Staff from any other line departments as diverted capacity.

It was also observed by the team that at few districts, the Assistant Commissioner

Development (ACD) of the Rural Development Department is holding the charge of District

Panchayat Officer (DPO) also, due to shortage of manpower and also because of non-

functioning of the PRIs. District Development Commissioner (DDC) was brought at the centre-

stage of the planning process and all district level officers put under his administrative control

for purposes of preparation, monitoring and implementation of plans. District Rural

Development Agency (DRDA) is also brought within the purview of DDC as Chairman.



Block Development Council (BDC):


The State Act prescribes the BDC at the Block Level that performs the functions of the Block

Panchayat. The Block Development Council to be constituted by the government that must

bear the name of respective Block. The BDC should comprise the following members:

�� Chairman

�� All the Sarpanches of the Halqa Panchayats falling within Block

�� Chairman, marketing society within the jurisdiction of the block

Figure 14: Block Development Council

The act states that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the BDC shall be elected out of the

members of the BDC from amongst themselves. If the Sarpanch is elected as chairman of the

BDC, he will have to vacate his office as Sarpanch. The Block Development Officer would act

as the Secretary of the Block Development Council.


Since, in the year 2001, the elections could not be held across the state for all the designated

Panchayats due to varied reasons, the Block Development Council at the block level as the

middle layer of the PRI framework could not be formed, resulting in a non formation of three-

tier Panchayati Raj System when the Panchayats were in existence and because of which the

functions were performed by the BDO.



Halqa Panchayat


Every Halqa Panchayat to bear the name of the place where it is headquartered and shall

consist of the minimum seven number of Panches including the Sarpanch who will be elected

directly by the electorate of the Halqa Panchayat. The Naib Sarpanch shall be elected by the

elected Panches of the Halqa Panchayat among themselves. The Village Level Worker to act

as the Panchayat Secretary.

Figure 15: Halqa Panchayat Structure


The Halqa Panchayats were formed in full power and authority. They were actively

participating in the day to day affairs of the village for the developmental purposes. The

Sarpanches and Panches were elected as per the guidelines stated in the Panchayati Raj Act.

However, out of 2700 Panchayats only 1693 Panchayats could be formulated due to varied

reasons. The Halqa Panchayats are dissolved at present. The functions of the same are being

performed by the Committees that have been formed which include the ex-members of the

Halqa Panchayats, Social Workers.



Overall Analysis

As per the act, the elections have to be held within six months of dissolution of Halqa

Panchayats and since the elections were not held, the Department of Rural Development had

to think of some temporary measures like monitoring committee so that the centrally

sponsored schemes and programmes running in the villages could be continued without

interruption. But they also had an option of continuing the same Halqa Panchayats for six

more months till the next elections. But none of these measures were taken up.

Since the Panchayats does not exist, as mentioned earlier, the government order stressed the

need for involving Halqa majlis for the formulation of plans, their periodical appraisal and

social auditing. The secretary of the concerned Panchayat is responsible to ensure this.

Further the Halqa majlis has to select members for the monitoring committee that will monitor

the work undertaken by the department. The funds that would have otherwise been

transferred to Panchayats under different scheme as per guidelines shall be operated jointly

by the block development officer and Panchayat Secretary.

During the study phase and discussion with at various levels in the governance, what we

could understand, that, there were multiple constraints that were stated as reasons for

delayed elections. One has been the bureaucratic delay because of the ongoing process of

delimitation of Halqa Panchayats; however, this activity was completed in the month of June

2009. The second concern cited from the political front was that of security.

Since the state is under the constant grip of internal violence the Panchayat elections will call

for large scale security arrangements. However, the government has recently had the

parliamentary and assembly elections conducted. Over and above all the constraints, the

consultant team could understand the important aspect is that of political will to

conduct the elections seems to be missing from the picture thus delaying the process.

It has been over three years now and the Panchayat elections still have not been

announced by the government. The consultant team observed that elections could

have been announced before the expiry of the term of the Panchayats. Since it was

not announced during that time, the government has lost the momentum and it has

taken three years for the government to decide on to hold the elections in the month

of Oct/ Nov 2009.



The Secretary, Rural Development Department, Mr. M.S.Khan said that the state has no

choice but to hold elections as the grant money from the centre has not been released to the

state treasury as the Panchayat elections have not been held. It has been told that, a cabinet

decision would be taken for holding the elections in the month of Oct/ Nov 2009. He further

reiterated that, if it could not be held during these months then it will further delay the process

by another six months because of change climatic conditions in the Kashmir region.

Since the Panchayati Raj department is not a separate department in the state, consequential

of which the Rural Development Department is overloaded and is understaffed. Thus, the ever

increasing work of the PRI is creating a lot of pressure on the officials to cater to the needs of

the parent department and fulfill yet greater than ever demands of the citizens in terms of

service delivery, schemes execution and various other needs and delivery is getting badly

affected.

In order to achieve the objective and vision of the PRI it is imperative that the state

government to give a thought on augmenting necessary qualified domain knowledge experts

in the department with a clear-cut roadmap for the next 5 year and policies in place.

Besides that adequate number of manpower may be put in place to cater to the needs of the

rural citizens. Initially the administrative staff at the state level can be pulled from the Rural

Development and allied departments or staff can be put on deputation. Similarly, the separate

IT cell may be created at the State level to implement, guide and monitor the progress of the

IT implementation at the district, block & at the Gram Panchayat level.

The State Act does not have a provision for constitution of independent State Finance

Commission. The State Act proposes the selection of the Chairman District Planning

and Development Board unlike elections proposed for three tiers under the 73rd

Amendment of Constitution of India. The 73rd Amendment of Constitution of India

asks for DPCs which is a mix of urban local bodies and rural local bodies. However,

the State Act prescribes District Planning & Development Board which is a

combination of the Urban and Rural local bodies.



5.3. Devolution status

This section deals with the Devolution status of Funds, Functions and Functionaries. It also

discusses the status of Activity Mapping. In Jammu & Kashmir, the devolution of functions has

been done on paper and much is still in the control of the Line Departments.

Funds, Functions, Functionaries

The 73rd amendment of the Constitution of India has empowered the Panchayats and

provided a constitutional framework for the state governments for delegation of powers and

has a legal standing in the structure of local self governance in the country.

Jammu & Kashmir Government adopted some of the provisions of the 73rd amendment to

some extent, in fact, the J&K Panchayati Raj act came 3 years before the 73rd amendment of

the constitution of India, however, further to the meetings with various stake holders in the

governance and the analysis of the study carried out at the state, district and block gives the

impression that this state still has a long way to go as far as the devolution is concerned.

Funds

As per the Panchayati Raj Act 1989

Section 14 of J&K Panchayat Act envisages that a Halqa Panchayat shall have a fund to be

called as Halqa Panchayat fund which shall comprise taxes and fees levied by Panchayats,

proceeds from the property and enterprises run by the Halqa Panchayats, court fees,

compensation paid to Halqa Panchayat, donation and contribution by public proceeds of

sanitation, cess, grants from the government and other agencies and all other incomes of

Halqa Panchayats.

There is no separate Panchayat window in the State budget. The finances/funds are not being

transferred to the Panchayats. There is no involvement of Panchayats in the fund flow

mechanism of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes. As per the discussion with Secretary,

Department of Rural Development, that there is a proposal for starting a 'Panchayat Window'

in the State Budget and it may be possible that in this budget session, a specific 'Panchayat

Window' may be approved.

Taxes collected

According to the Panchayati Raj Act of J&K 1989, the provision has been made wherein

Halqa Panchayat may impose taxes on eighteen functions.



The Halqa Panchayat Adalat is the authorized body for collection of any kind of taxes; on the

other hand, as per the present situation since the Panchayats are non-functioning, no taxes

are being collected at the Panchayat level as a source of funds for their activities. Moreover,

this practice was never implemented even when the Panchayats were functioning as per the

law. However, no taxes have been collected by the government of J&K from the citizens. .

Other sources of revenue

According to the Panchayati Raj Act, apart from the revenues collected from taxes, the funds

of the Halqa Panchayats known as “Halqa Panchayat Fund” comprises of the following :-

�� Proceeds from the property and enterprise run by Halqa.

�� Court fees, fines and compensation paid t the Halqa Panchayat.

�� Donations and contributions paid by public for works undertaken by Halqa Panchayat.

�� Proceeds of the sanitation Cess collected by Government on the revenue being loaned

within Halqa Panchayat area

�� Grants from the Government for general purposes on per capita basis and also for

specific functions.

�� Loans from the Government or other agencies approved by Government, or other

financial institutions.

All other income of Halqa Panchayat and such grants as may be assigned to the Halqa

Panchayat by the Government, keeping in view the topography and backwardness of

the area. When the Panchayats were in existence, the Panchayats have generated the

revenue as under since 2002-03 onwards:

Table 6: Internal Revenue Mobilizations

Sr. No. Year Amount

1 2002-03 8.86

2 2003-04 16.39

3 2004-05 20.21

4 2005-06 21.50

5 2006-07 22.37

6 2007-08 184.00

7 2008-09 156.32



The revenue was generated on the following account:

�� Fee for mobile towers.

�� Adda Fee.

�� Fee for issuance of NOCs for Establishment of commercial units.

�� Cattle Pond Fee.

�� Rent of Panchayat Assets.

�� Income from Nurseries/Clousers.

�� Compensation of land from Railways.

�� Interest from bank on deposits etc.

However, these funds are lying unutilized with the Panchayats and are deposited in the bank

account of respective Panchayats.

Present Status

A modest effort has been made about engaging the Panchayats towards levying of toll, cess

and taxes so that the revenue in some measure could be generated which could be ploughed

into the developmental activities and self sustainability of the Panchayats. Since, the BDC not

existing, the control and guidance is not available at the Panchayats.

There is no Panchayat window in the state budget. However, it has constituted a Finance

Commission, which, among other issues, will also consider provision of a share for

Panchayats from amongst the available resources on a sustained basis as a part of the

annual budget exercise. In order to give a reasonable share to the Panchayats in the various

resources besides the grants devolving under the Twelfth Finance Commission and the

resources targeted to be realized through taxes, cess and non-tax revenues, the State

Government has constituted a Finance Commission.

12th Finance commission has allocated an amount of Rs. 281 Crores, for the Panchayats in

the state of J&K out of which Rs. 52.83 crores4 have been received as annual installment till

now. The balance amount of Rs. 229.17 crore has not been released so far by the Ministry of

Finance, GoI. The reason of this step was non-formation of the Panchayats in the J&K. The

purpose of these funds available under TFC was meant for the operation and maintenance of

sanitation and drinking water.

4 Source: Presentation given by IMPA to the 13

th finance Commission in June 2009.



The State Finance Commission (SFC) is authorized to review the financial position of

Panchayats and to make recommendations regarding principles governing:

�� Distribution between the State and the Panchayats of the net proceeds of taxes,

duties, tolls and fees leviable by the State;

�� Determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees which may be assigned to, or

appropriated by the Panchayats;

�� The grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated fund of the State

�� The measures needed to improve the financial position of the Panchayats

�� Any other matter referred to the Finance Commission in the interests of sound finance

of the Panchayats.

Facts & Findings

PRIs have got a very poor fiscal base and since revenue generation is not very high; they

have excessive dependency on state & centre for any activity to be performed. Further the

available own source of income is not sufficient as the government is also not willing to

impose any taxes on citizens.

The sources of funds of Panchayat under different schemes are BRGF, IAY, NREGS, Twelfth

Finance commission, Total Sanitation Campaign & Maintenance under RWSS. All the

mentioned schemes come with strict guide lines.

Therefore the Panchayats doesn’t have enough liberty to utilize the fund as per need of the

local area. Untied funds are very limited therefore even if the Gram Panchayat wants to take

any initiative for local area development it has to depend of state or district for the same.

Functions


Devolution of functions is a very important aspect for empowerment of PRIs to act as

institutions of self-governance rather than as mere implementing agencies. Article 243G

(Eleventh schedule) provides for the transfer of powers to Panchayats so that they can be

effective institutions of local governance.

The constitution has listed down 29 matters that are open for the devolution. The Government

of Jammu and Kashmir through order No. 21 delegated the list of areas and activities that

would fall under the purview of Panchayats. Initially 9 subjects were transferred to the

jurisdiction of Panchayats and subsequently this list has grown to include 15 subjects.



Facts & Findings

At the time when PRIs were in existence

When the Panchayats were in existence, though, the devolution of 15 subjects was done, it

was on paper only. In practicality, except for two functions actual devolution never took place

because the funds and the functionaries were never transferred to the PRI level.

Present Status

Since the Panchayats have been dissolved, most of their functions are being performed by the

committee members; Village Level Workers etc. The BDO along with these committee

members are responsible in making various developmental plans, schemes execution,

implementation and monitoring.

Functionaries


The Govt. of J&K has not taken any measures to transfer the functionaries to the PRI. During

the period when the Panchayats were in existence, the Sarpanches were authorized to check

the attendance of the school teachers, guiding the Anganwari workers, Asha workers, etc.

However, after the dissolution of Panchayats, the Sarpanches are not any more authorized to

do the same.

Facts & Findings


No functionaries have been devolved to PRI by the line departments. To cater to the

increasing work load PRIs have been using the services of VLW for most of the things and the

BDO is totally dependent upon the VLWs in the absence of the devolution of functionaries by

the various line departments.

Present Status

Since the Panchayats does not exists, the activities related to local level development is being

done through the various committees constituted by the Government. Moreover, devolution of

Functionaries needs to be carried out to the appropriate level of the PRIs according to the

functional devolution. It would be necessary to create posts in the Panchayats and develop

the Cadre & Recruitment Rules to specify the terms and conditions of appointment or

deputation, as the case may be.



5.3.1. Status of Activity Mapping


Activity Mapping is an exercise that has been recommended as part of the 73rd amendment of

the Constitution of India, for clearly laying out the functions of three tiers of Panchayats and

the manner in which they would coordinate with respect to each of the 29 subjects that would

be devolved to these institutions as listed in the 11th schedule. It also emphasizes on the

division of funds at the three levels. However, the Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act

1989 is silent about the Activity Mapping Document.5



The preparation of Activity Mapping Document (AMD) is of the paramount importance which

is required to actually provide detailed guidelines for devolutions of functions, however, the

state government needs to initiate / take action for making Activity mapping document, which

is important to achieve the desired state of devolution of various functions to PRIs. It was also

noted that most of the government officials are not aware about the activity mapping.

It was also observed that, the Panchayati Raj Act 1989 is silent about the preparation of

activity mapping document. Had it been the part of the act, each government department

would have taken the appropriate action to prepare the activity mapping documents first to

align the function, functionaries and the funds. Even though few functions have been

transferred to the PRI, the functionaries are not aligned with PRIs to take care of the devolved

functions, thus defeating the purpose of the PRI Implementation.

Present Status

Even though the guidelines6 for devolution of Functions, Funds and Functionaries (3Fs) to the

Panchayati Raj Institutions through Activity mapping (as a reminder) were issued this year by

Ministry of Panchayati Raj, no steps have been formulated to do the same. It has been

observed by the team, that most of the officials are not even aware about the Activity Mapping

Document.

5 Source: Panchayati Raj Act 1989

6 Activity Mapping Letter No. N- 1011/59/2006-Policy 1(Pt.) issued on 27

th April 2009



Overall Analysis:

To accelerate rural development particularly in the direction of poverty alleviation state of J&K

recognizes the need to strengthen Panchayats at all levels so that they function as institutions

of self government in spirit of Part IX of the Constitution and reiterates its commitment to the

cause of strengthening Panchayati Raj.

For Panchayats to effectively plan and implement the functions that have been devolved upon

them, it is necessary that funds pertaining to the schemes are transferred to them. As part of

this process, the Government of J&K agrees to put in place systems that are capable of

tracking transfers of funds to PRIs, both through Banks and treasuries.

It is the endeavor of the state to equip the PRIs with substantive financial power in order to

generate adequate resources for them to enable them to discharge functions and obligation

adequately. In J&K, there is a great scope for Panchayats to generate their own revenue.

There is a need to encourage all levels of PRIs, particularly Gram Panchayats to levy taxes

and user charges. The government of J&K states that Panchayats will also be permitted to

spend revenue collected by them without restriction or delay.

For the effective performance of functions devolved to PRIs, it is necessary that the

functionaries concerned with these functions are accountable to Panchayati Raj Institutions.

The Government of J&K agrees to further strengthening this process, so that all functionaries

involved with these functions are accountable to the Panchayati Raj Institutions concerned.

In Jammu & Kashmir, the status of devolution of the 3Fs is incomplete. The funds and

functionaries have not been fully devolved at the PRI. The devolution of the functions is also

just on paper and not in real life. Thereby, it is suggested by the consultant team, that as soon

as the elections of the Panchayats are held, maximum devolution of the 3Fs should be done

to them so that the PRIs have utmost participation in planning, decision making, monitoring,

local self governance etc.

Activity Maps are key instruments to actualize constitutional provisions such as the

73rd Amendment Act and also to provide clarity and communicate how various

stakeholders have control over funds, functionaries and functions. If correctly done

and implemented, they have the potential to ease the bandwidth of line departments

and senior functionaries who can focus on policy issues, strategic aspects of

schemes etc.



What is evident from the analysis of Devolution of Functions and Functionaries is that there is

an inherent fear amongst many Line Departments that they would loose control and the power

centers would shift if they relinquished control over functions and functionaries, even if they

are to be ultimately devolved to the PRIs in the near future.

5.3.2. Challenges

�� One of the major challenges faced by the line departments in devolution of

functionaries to PRIs is the shortage of manpower especially at the third tier.

�� Activity Mapping Document has not been prepared; therefore, clarity wrt PRI is not

available with various line departments. Few officials of the line departments are totally

unaware about the functioning of the PRIs and the activity mapping activity.

�� Presently, Panchayats are supplanted by parallel institutions, to which entitled funds of

Panchayats are diverted like LAHDC of Laddakh region

�� Empowerment of communities to exert control over Panchayats is to ensure

downwards accountability and good social audit.

�� Monitoring Challenges: Adequate mechanism is also not in place to check and

assess asset creation & its impact and value realization by intended beneficiaries from

the funds received under various schemes. Use of ICTs iat any tier of PRIs including

Panchayats is nil, the monitoring and reporting to state is still paper based and no

major initiatives are taken to control the functions/ activities electronically.

�� Lack of Functionaries: Govt. orders have been issued for the transfer of functionaries

but only for two or three departments, functionaries have actually been transferred.

Quality of functional devolution is poor – activity mapping not carried out, functional

devolution through executive orders may not be stable. There is no formal record with

state regarding the actual devolution status.

�� Political Challenges: Lack of Political commitment from the local MLAs and Ministers

to allow them to function as autonomous bodies. The transferring of political,

administrative and fiscal responsibilities to Panchayats has not been achieved.

5.4. PR Governance

As per the 73rd Amendment Act, the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been empowered and

authorized to function as institutions of self-government. The Act also contains provision of

devolving powers and responsibilities upon Panchayats at the appropriate level with reference

to (a) the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice; and (b) the

implementation of such schemes as may be entrusted to them.



PR Governance involves the way the Panchayats governs itself. In this section the team has

highlighted how the PRIs are involved in the process of Planning, Monitoring, Implementation,

Accounting of various schemes as well as how do they govern themselves? The team has

studied the involvement of the PRIs in a number of Central Sponsored Schemes (CSS), and

also which committees are formed at the district level, village level and what is their extent of

involvement. In J&K, since the PRIs does not exists, the planning, implementation, monitoring

and accounting is done by the respective line departments. BRGF and NREGA are the

schemes wherein actual Rural Development and PR department is playing a significant role in

the activities.

The Governments vision of inclusive growth, reducing poverty and bridging the various divides

that continue to fragment our society can only be achieved if there is a significant improvement

in the quality of governance.

Good Governance should have following features:

�� Effective participation by all sections of population.

�� Government at all level must be accountable and transparent.

�� The Government must be effective and efficient in delivering social & economic

services.

By and large governance in the state of Jammu & Kashmir is done by the Rural Development

and Panchayati Raj Department. The department has been working very hard for the

upliftment of people in spite of non-existence of Panchayats. The department envisions

developed Rural J&K with transparency and reduced gaps following bottom to top approach.

5.5. G2G Functional Areas

This section talks about the involvement of PRIs in Planning, Monitoring, Accounting and

Implementation of the various CSS schemes. Since the PRIs does not exists in the state of

J&K, all the activities are being performed by the respective line departments with the

involvement of various village level committees.

5.5.1. Planning

The constitution of 73rd & 74th amendments mandated local planning at all the three tiers of

Panchayats. People’s participation in planning is the key indictor & a major function of

governance of a democratic local self government .Thus planning is an important function of

Panchayats.



It was felt that, though, there is a need of integrated local area plan which should be based on

the need of that area, the scope for planning at grass root level is limited the reason being

lack of manpower, low fiscal base & limited authority. Moreover the schemes & funds

devolved brings along with it strict guide line thus limiting the scope of need based planning

Role of State RD & PR Dept.

Planning is a decentralized activity in J&K state. The state follows a bottom-up approach for

the planning purpose. Every year a guidelines / notification is sent from the State Rural

Development department to all districts to start preparing their plans. Accordingly preparation

of draft plans starts in the month of September/October. However, the complete planning and

allocation of funds etc are handled by respective line departments. The state RD & PR

department plays little or no role in the planning of other department schemes except for the

schemes executed by RD & PR department like BRGF, TSC, etc.

Role of the PRI

A decentralized planning mechanism is being considered as the most desirable system to

promote people views in shaping official policy. The felt needs of the peoples can not be

brought out unless they participate in plan formulation and implementation at grass roots level.

The basic objective of planning at Halqa Panchayat level is to identify the felt needs and

aspirations of the people which are to be jointly shouldered by the people and their

representatives in Panchayats.

Such a process of planning expected to be useful in identifying the local problems/ needs and

local resources, ascertaining the growth potential of the Panchayat in light of their resources,

choosing schemes from the shelf of projects and sequencing them properly in such a way that

forward and backward linkages are established.

Accordingly, Panchayats have been given responsibilities to plan and implement schemes for

economic development and social justice in the merging Panchayati Raj System in the state.

Under these changing circumstances, Halqa Panchayat has necessarily to develop the

capacity to prepare plans and such plans are to be based on the felt needs of the people.

Such a planning mechanism has to fulfill two conditions viz. (a) it must encompass the

development needs of the Halqa; and, (b) it must be ensured that it is based on the felt needs

of the people.

Even though the elected members of the PRIs are not available, each Gram Panchayat is

responsible for preparing plans, implement programmes and schemes pertaining to all the

activities related to local level development and socio economic development of the villages.

Even though the elections are not held in the state, the planning is still being carried out the

gram Panchayat level in the state of J&K.



Each Gram Panchayat makes its own plans in the Gram Sabha after prioritizing its plans in

concurrence with the participation of village communities and in the presence of state govt.

officials. Since BDC does not exist, the plans received from various Panchayats are

consolidated and compiled at the block level in the BDO Office. Further to that, these plans

are compiled at the office of Assistant Commissioner Development, at the district level and

under the Chairmanship of DDC, the plans are approved for a particular district and the

approved plans are sent to the State department.

Schemes planning process for Halqa Panchayat and Block Development Council

GP Plans

BP Plans

DPDB Plans

It was also observed that the government at any level is not using any IT application

or software application package for the making the plans for any of the scheme.

Recently, a presentation was made by Chandigarh based organization i.e. CRRID for

using the PlanPlus software developed by NIC in making the plans for the BRGF



The consultant team observed that further to the 73rd & 74th Constitutional Amendments, the

focus should have been more on the local level planning along with the setting up of District

Planning Committees (DPCs). The setting up of the DPCs and the process of district planning

are inherent parts of the Constitutional Amendments, since the district planning is a

constitutional responsibility. While the mandatory provisions have been implemented, such as

holding local elections and creating various local bodies, there is a great deal yet to be done

with regard to proper division of functions, proper devolution of funds and proper undertaking

of local-level planning.

It was also observed that the state government has considerable delay in the setting up of the

DPCs. The consultant team feels that local planning is essential because effective planning

rests on inputs from the bottom up, starting from a family to the community to the village to the

state &, finally, the national decision-makers. National planning can be appropriately designed

by the government in power and there can be proper devolution of funds only on this basis.

5.5.2. Monitoring & Implementation

Role of the State RD& PR dept.

The Government of India has been pressing hard for vigorous monitoring and systematic

evaluation of different developmental program and circulated guidelines for the same. The

state is making efforts for online monitoring for various schemes. The RD & PR department is

not involved in the implementation and monitoring of all the schemes except for the schemes

executed by them. As mentioned in the planning section, the respective departments are

responsible for the implementations and monitoring for their schemes.

Role of the PRI

Though, The J&K State Panchayati Raj does not have a three tiered Panchayati Raj System

with the elected bodies at Gram, Block and District Panchayat which helps in effective

implementation and better monitoring of various rural development schemes, the Govt. has

issued the orders for constitution of Village Monitoring Committee and Vigilance Committees

and the Govt. has from time to time specified the role of these committees in respect of the

programs, schemes and other activities to ensure properly coordinated and effective

implementation of such programs, schemes and activities.

The monitoring by the Block level is done by a way of preparing monthly progress Reports

which are sent to the DPDB and further to the State govt. The committees that have been

formulated in place of the Gram Panchayats are responsible for the monitoring of various

schemes and other activities at village level. Gram Panchayat records the progress and

quality of work and DPDB Coordinator monitors all the implementations works at BDO and

Halqa Panchayat level.



A social audit performed by the VLWs and other committees at Haqa panchayat after

completion of sanctioned work. The BDO is mainly involved in Physical and Financial

Progress monitoring. Gram Sabha is also conducted that includes various prominent citizens

of the village to list out the development works that have been completed and are under

progress at their Gram Panchayat.

Monitoring becomes a very challenging task for PRIs in collection of relevant information

relating to the Development Programes being implemented in the village by traveling when the

distance between village to village is large and the topography makes it even worse.

Challenges in monitoring

�� Lack of supporting staff and awareness and lack of literacy in rural citizens increased

problems in execution of these schemes and Lack of technical manpower

�� Due to low population density and scattered habitants into smaller groups and long

distances are to be covered while traveling from one village to another, creates lot of

problems in providing emergency services to pregnant women and children

�� Due to vast distances it is very difficult to provide employment/work to rural populace

near to his village/ Panchayat and Lack of Public transportation, Difficult terrains

�� The problems are also like monitoring and maintenance of water sources like hand

pumps, diggies etc.

�� Delay in Funds transfer and Per Child very low cost of Budget/ expenses

�� Lack of resources for preparation of meals like improper Kitchen, chullas.

�� NREGA workers / labours: Lot of time is consumed in getting payment withdrawal from

their Bank a/c or Post Office due to distances and lack of public transport.

It was observed that Govt. of J&K is not using any IT applications/ tools for the

implementations and monitoring of any schemes, however, in some cases because

of strict guidelines from government of India like NREGA, the MIS is prepared and

uploaded at the block level, through the CICs (functional). In case of BRGF, the

departments/ PRIs are expected to update the execution status against the plan in

the PlanPlus software.



5.5.3. Accounting

SCHEME

Role of the State PR dept.

The Rural Development Department in the state of J&K follows the single entry method of

accounting for most of the schemes. No software is being implemented for the purpose of

accounting. The state receives MPR and QPR for various schemes. The state RD& PR

department does not maintain the accounts of the schemes rum by other line departments,

however, it maintains the accounts of the schemes run by them.

Role of PRI

As per the Panchayati Raj Act 1989, the custody and administration of Panchayat funds shall

be the responsibility of Halqa Panchayats. The accounts of all income and expenditure of the

Panchayat funds shall be maintained in Form 12. The account shall be closed and balanced

at the end of every month and shall be examined/passed by the Panchayat at the meeting in

the next following month. The act also mandates to close any cash transactions in Cash Book

that same day, balanced and signed by the Secretary of the Halqa Panchayat who shall

submit the same to the Sarpanch for his counter signatures. The Panchayats do not use any

IT infrastructure for maintenance of books and follow Single entry, Cash basis of accounting.

Every Panchayat has got their accounts that are presently being operated jointly by the Village

Level Workers and Block Development Officer. At the time of the functioning of the

Panchayats, the accounts were operated by the Sarpanch and the VLW. The share received

from the State is maintained in double entry accounting system and the one received from the

Center is maintained in single entry accounting system. All the expenditures that have been

incurred by them are recorded in the books accounting. Six Tiers of classification of Head of

Accounts are being used in Panchayat Accounts.

Table 7: Details of Heads of Accounts

Sr. No. Tier Name of Heads

1 I Sector

2 II Major Head

3 III Minor Head

4 IV Sub-Head

5 V Detailed Head

6 VI Object Head



Others

Role of the State PR Dept.

The accounting for all the non-plan funds is done by single entry system at the state level. The

state follows 6 tier accounting system with 16 digits and mostly depends on Monthly Progress

Reports and Quarterly Progress Reports. The state is maintaining 9 registers for non-plan

funds. They are:

�� Cash Book

�� Ledger

�� Office Expenditure Register

�� Contingencies Book

�� Petrol Register

�� Telephone Register

�� Cheque Register

�� Travel Expenditure Register

�� Pay Acquaintance Roll

Role of PRI

At the Block level, the accounts are maintained by the BDO for any kind of transactions. The

department maintains three accounts i.e. Civil Accounts, Forest Accounts and PWD Accounts.

The civil accounts follow the Treasury system, which means the accounts are sent to concern

Accountant General by the Treasuries and the latter two follow Cheque System and are self

compiling authority. The Halqa Panchayat does accounting by maintaining Cash Book. No

software is being used at any level of the PRI.

Facts & Findings:

The officials of accounts section at Block and at the BDO Office and at Gram Panchayat level

are not professional accounts personnel. The post of Accounts officer is lying vacant since last

few years. At GP level the accounts is maintained in a register in hand written. Because of

non availability of domain knowledge expert, the accounts are not maintained properly and the

government is not aware of the actual funds utilization at the ground level and financial

progress report is not being sent on time thus causing a great delay.

5.5.4. Extent of PRI involvement in Schemes

This part of the chapter deals with the extent of PRI involvement in the schemes in core G2G

Functional Areas. Detailed description of each of the schemes is available in the Scheme

templates that have been filled. Each scheme has a soft copy folder with the filled scheme

template workbook, along with supporting documents such as photos and scans of documents

that are in state specific formats.



In Jammu & Kashmir, the involvement of PRIs is negligible. Due to the nihility of the PRIs,

they are not being necessitated into the governance. This has affected the delivery

mechanism for various schemes and services as well. The role of the PRI presently is being

played by few committees like Village Level Committee, Forest Committee, and Sanitation

Committee etc. that involves the ex-members of the Panchayats and prominent citizens from

the local village.

The role of these committees is mostly limited to planning, implementation and monitoring. In

some schemes the Village Level Worker is the only person concerned in the execution of

various activities of the schemes. When Panchayats were functioning properly, they were fully

drawn in all kinds of developmental activities, but after their dissolution, their role was played

by the ex-members itself, however, they could not execute their powers in the same manner.

Resulting which the PRI could not perform a crucial role in the schemes. The Budgeting,

Accounting and other major decisions are taken at higher level of domination.

5.5.5. Participation in Committees

In the state of J&K, since the Halqa Panchayats are non-functioning from the past three years,

all the work and responsibilities that have been carried out by them are presently being carried

out by a handful of committees that have been constituted as per the orders issued by the

government as a substitute of Halqa Panchayats till the next elections are held and

responsible members are elected who would resume the activities of the Panchayats.

�� Selection of members: These committees are formed at Gram level and the

members of these committees are selected by the people of the village at the time of

Gram Sabha by following the method of raising hands.

�� Details about the members: These committees constitute members from the ex

Panchayats like ex-Sarpanch and ex-Naib Sarpanch etc. It also includes the social

workers especially female workers, one or two citizens who fall under the category of

SC/ST etc. All these members are chosen by the consent of all the village people.

Some committees also involve professional departmental officers to advice, guide in

regard to matters specified by the Panchayat.

�� Role of the committees: The committees formed at the Gram level are Village

Education committee, Forest committee, Vigilance Committee, Monitoring Committee

etc. Basically, the main role of these committees is monitoring and implementation of

various schemes. These committees directly interact with the citizens and act as a

medium of communication between the citizens and higher authorities. Any work to be

proposed in the village is done with the help of these committees.



District – DODA

Table 8: Committees in District DODA

Sr. No.

Committee Name

Purpose PRI

Level

No. of PRI officials Involved

Designation of PRI Official

1.

Village Education Committee

Middle secondary (up to class 8

th)

i. To look after the implementation of various schemes of education like Mid-day meal.

ii. To look after the school

iii. To utilize the funds that are granted for the school maintenance and other purposes

iv. To take care of the Attendance of the teachers and students

v. To provide the students with free uniform and books.

GP 8-10

1) Sarpanch

2) Panch

3) Social Worker

4) 2 Persons from SC/ST category

5) Female worker

6) Head of institute

7) Ex-teacher

2. Vigilance Committee

i. To keep a watchful eye on the work being done,

ii. To check the records for the actual work done by visiting the sites

GP 7

1) Sarpanch

2) Namabardar

3) Social Worker

4) Female citizen


6) Ex-serviceman

3. Forest committee

i. To make sure that any kind of illegal damage of forest is not there

ii. To get proper fencing done

iii. Construction of ponds etc.

GP At least 8

1) Sarpanch acting as chairman

2) Block Forest Officer as Secretary

3) Sarpanch

4) Panch

5) Social worker


7) Retired forest official

4. Monitoring Committee

i. To maintain Labor records

ii. Monitors the implementation of various schemes

iii. Keeps a check that whether the work is being done as per the sub-standards

GP 8

1) Sarpanch

2) Namabardar

3) Chowkidar

4) Social Worker

5) Female citizen


7) Ex-serviceman

8) Any other prominent citizen from the village



Sr. No.

Committee Name

Purpose PRI

Level

No. of PRI officials Involved

Designation of PRI Official

5. Watershed Committee

i. To make plans at the village level basis

ii. Identification of the work i.e. leveling, plantation, construction etc.

iii. To execute the scheme IWDP

GP 8-10

1) Chairman (elected)

2) JAA (Agri Dept.)

3) 6 men (elected locally)

4) 3 women (elected locally)

6. Sanitation committee

i. To monitor and implement the TSC scheme

ii. To maintain the beneficiary data

GP 7

1) Ex-Sarpanch

2) Education Institutions

3) School Head

4) ASHA Worker

5) Social welfare Employee

6) Village Panches

7) Any retired person

7. Farmer’s Committee

i. Implementation and reporting about the National Horticulture Technology Mission scheme

ii. Act as interface with the Tehsil

GP 5-6

member/hectares

1)

8. Village Health Committee

i. To execute the National Rural Health Mission scheme of the Family welfare Department

ii. To spend the funds on sanitation, health etc.

GP 6-7

1) Health Worker

2) ASHA Worker

3) Anganwadi worker

4) Any self help group/any prominent lady

5) NGO Mahila Mandal

6) Village Head



5.6. Best Practices & Key Learning related to PR Governance

In spite of the non-existence of the Panchayats, the ex-Panches, Sarpanches and the Village

Level Workers have been participating enthusiastically in the developmental activities of the

state. They have been closely involved in the day to day affairs of the Panchayats in spite of

its non being. Despite of the prevailing conditions of militancy and violence in the State, the

state government has been invulnerable to the intimidation and has shown the readiness to

embark on bold new ventures by formulating the Panchayati Raj Institutions.

Within India various states have implemented various e-Governance initiatives. The initiatives

implemented by various states which can be of guidance to the state of J&K for better

implementation of PRI is as under:

�� Orissa: The step has been taken by the Orissa Government in providing the

connectivity for Panchayats with District Panchayats and block Panchayats have

interlinked electronically with the state headquarters. Project Monitoring is undertaken

through RURALSOFT, which is a package developed by the NIC, Account monitoring

is also undertaken by PRIASOFT, the NIC’s standard package for rural MIS. PRAMIS

(Project accounting and monitoring system) has also been developed. In Orissa

capacity building of the elected representative is undertaken through the satellite

training. Direct Reception Satellite is available in most of the Gram Panchayats.

�� Karnataka: The initiative for e-governance in Karnataka came from Panchayats

themselves, With Bellandur Panchayat pioneering its own system for dealing with the

requirements. e-Governance in Karnataka has largely progressed as the bottom up

approach. So far, most of the Panchayats in Karnataka have procured their own

computers, using a combination of developed funds from the finance commission, their

own revenue receipts and funding from externally aided projects. Software packages

used by the Panchayat include Aasthi, software designed for tax assessment in

Panchayats, Samanya Mahithi, a database of resources and details of Panchayats,

which is also web-enabled.

�� Andhra Pradesh: Andhra Pradesh has implemented its e-Panchayat Programme

which uses NIC developed software and connectivity backbone for its operation. The e-

Panchayat software provides a number of services typically delivered at the Panchayat

level, such as births and Deaths, House Tax, Trade licenses, issue of pensions,

beneficiary related data and internal modules for accounts, details of Panchayat,

meetings and listing of their properties.



�� The connectivity provided permits web-based interface between citizens and their gram

Panchayat through kiosks. A state level portal has been developed, which gives details

of Panchayat Raj Acts & GOs, government programmes, welfare schemes, application

forms for downloading, information on citizen charters, Panchayat profile, status on

applications submitted to Gram Panchayat, status on House Tax etc. e-Panchayat has

already been operational in most of the Panchayats covering various districts of Andhra

Pradesh

�� Chhattisgarh: The website of Chhattisgarh Government opens up to vast range of

data available on Panchayats. All 16 Districts and 146 Blocks of the state are

connected through V-SAT and computers. Data entry operators are posted in all 146

Blocks and 16 Districts, thus making data available on the internet for planning. In and

interesting experience, hand held devices are been provided to Sarpanches of all gram

Panchayats for data collection and better performing their functions. Software

development for Panchayats in Chhattisgarh has also started work on priority basis on

Panchayat level data bases, accounting and delivery of services

�� Gujarat: Gujarat is well among top contenders in the race to take e-Governance to all

Panchayats in the state. Computers have been provided to a majority of gram

Panchayats in the state and are in the first instance, being used to provide revenue

records to people. The highlight of Gujarat’s approach is the fact that is being

supported by connectivity to all gram Panchayats through V-SATs. All District

Panchayats and all the Gram Panchayats including the Block Panchayats have been

connected through Gujarat state wide area network.

�� Rajasthan: Rajasthan’s ‘CARISMA’ initiative looks at an important one aspect of the

Panchayati Raj, improving the internal housekeeping of Panchayats. The focus of

CARISMA is on accounting of Panchayats that is AG-complaint and developing a

village information system for better local planning and management.. The system act

as means of improving internal management and efficiency of PRIs and eventually

ensure better and speedy delivery of services to the citizens of rural areas of state. The

unique feature of CARISMA is the twin model for providing connectivity.



Overall Analysis

PR governance is strategic area of improvement for improving the function of PRIs in J&K.

The Panchayats when in existence lacked basic infrastructure and resources for exercising

their legal powers. The PRIs had limited role in implementation and monitoring of schemes

and negligible role in planning and accounting. The reason analyzed that was responsible for

this was inadequate autonomy.

For involving the PRIs in good governance, the first and foremost requirement would be to

form the PRIs and empowering them with more and more authority to plan & implement for

various developmental activities. The funds that have been received by the Government of

J&K exclusively of Panchayats have been kept on due since the Panchayats are non-existent.

At present, the Panchayats are only involved in the monitoring activities and moreover, the

committees have been constituted as their replacement since their term has been ended.

Every year new committees are formulated to perform the functions of the Panchayats.

However, the team feels that instead of forming committees and complicating the processes,

the J&K govt. should hold the elections of the PRIs at the earliest possible.

As soon as the elections are held and PRIs come into the picture, the government is required

to make resolution in sanctioned strength for different positions & augments the strength of

these positions, otherwise, it will be difficult to render the functions even if complete devolution

done with current strength.

The Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat act has not recognized the Halqa Majlis (Gram

Sabha) as an institution, which are the foundation of local self governance. A positive

aspect about the act is that it makes it mandatory for the Halqa Panchayats to ‘lay for

sanction’ its plans and budget to a ‘meeting of voters’. However, this ‘meeting of

voters’ and its mode of functioning have not been clearly defined. Also, the act does

not state that the recommendations given by the Halqa majlis are binding legally and

can not be tampered with.



6. Information and Services Needs

In this section Information & Services Needs of the key stakeholders in e-PRI MMP has been

identified. It is based on the interviews conducted on field and the observations the team made from

multiple perspectives. This section presents finding in terms of expectations, challenges, issues and

requirements of PRI, citizen and line departments.

In this phase, data collection toolkits in the form of questionnaires & checklists for each level were

developed for capturing & analysing the data. On the basis of these questionnaires, primary study

was undertaken. Data was captured through interviews, meetings & discussions with eminent govt.

officials. Team studied various processes and the related information flows in all key functional areas,

current technology usage in various departments and understood the technology infrastructure being

used currently. This study will help in defining the gap between the existing stage and the desired

stage so that a right roadmap can be shaped in the further phases of the e-PRI assignment.

Team interacted with state PR department, NIC team and various eminent officials from line

department which are involved in the PRI establishment. After having a brief and fare idea at state

level, project team moved to district, block and village level respectively and understand the complete

implementation of existing process, schemes and other initiatives from RD department. All the

officials were welcoming the initiative of MoPR and provided all possible support and information

available. Most of the line departments are expecting an efficient, errorless, automated monitoring

and reporting system as a part of e-PRI project. They expect the team should understand end to end

approach of implementation of schemes and service. Broad level expectation of State Govt. from e-

PRI initiative can be categorized in two broad areas:

Governance and Management: More transparent process, effective people participation,

Management of large amount of information and data effectively, Swift and secure communication,

Efficient, errorless, automated monitoring and reporting are major needs from the project.

Citizen Service Delivery: Efficient, cost-effective and approachable model of service delivery,

convenient services to citizens, greater access to public information, establishment of accountability

in delivery of services to citizens are few key expectation in service delivery part. While analyzing the

requirements articulated by the various stakeholders either explicitly or implicitly, it becomes evident

that there are a few dominant aspirations that are common are mentioned as under:

�� Encourage decentralized information management and reporting

�� Automate workflow and smoothen information flows

�� Enable convergence in execution and information capture

�� Foster transparency and social accountability

�� Create awareness and knowledge by capacity building



6.1. Information needs of line departments

Figure 16: Meeting with line departments

In general it was found that,

most of the government

departments and related

establishments are waiting

in-fact to have the modern

tools and technology to aid

in the process of plan and

policy implementation,

management and

monitoring. In the absence

of modern automated tools

like ICT, man power

resources, etc are further

delaying the execution of the various programmes, schemes, etc

During state level study, study team met with eminent govt. officials including State RD and

PR Secretary, secretaries, commissioner and directors of other line department involved with

the various schemes execution. Team captured their vision and expectations of benefit from

the project. Study of schemes running by the line departments and the issues/challenges face

by them during implementation was also a key focus area of the team. It was observed by the

consultant team that there is lack of clarity of roles and responsibilities as mentioned in the

government orders. It was also brought to the team that there is huge gap in participation of

PRIs in governance and scheme implementation at the grass root level and also the

awareness level is very low, at the time when PRIs were in existence, may be due to the first

term of the elected members and non experience in handling these type of activities.

Many line departments feels that the new initiative of MoPR, GoI, to introduce e-Governance

in the PRIs could go a long way in improving data capture and information flow the village

level itself leading to faster and transparent planning, even for the schemes where the PRIs

currently are not involved. The important and common need which ahs been expressed by

most of the line departments is that of capacity building of the officials, elected members and

other staff of the PRIs at all the tiers. The ex-elected members of the PRIs are quite

unsatisfied with the quality of plans and policy implementation across various sections of

governance and particularly relating to poor village people.



Basis interaction with various stakeholders at the state level, the following information needs

arises:-

Table 9: Information Needs of line departments

Challenges / Issues Expectation from e-PRI

Social Welfare Department

Management of applications received at lower

level is not effective. It has been conveyed that

there are frequent cases of lost/misplaced

application

Online application management and workflow based

application system which can help the welfare department

to get the information about the number of eligible students

and the amount being disbursed.

Timely & accurate availability of beneficiary data. Delay in availability of base data may deprive some

recipient from actually availing the benefits of different

Government schemes

Incorrect reporting and fund management:

Misleading reports from lower level and improper

handling of released fund is a major challenge

Online payment and MIS options

Revenue Department

Historical data: Land records are very old and in

most dilapidated condition and the burden is on

the Tehsildar for issue of any kind of certificate

Online recording for the land records and easily accessible

Large scale of applications: Applications for

obtaining Nakal, khasra, B1, other certificates like

caste, domicile, income etc. are received in a very

large scale by department. Management and

delivery based on those applications is key

challenge for the department

Data digitization and management of the application

(submission, approval, reporting, MIS etc.) can be done

Education Department

Transparency on physical utilization of mid day

meal.

Real time data on midday meal shall ensure appropriate

usage of fund as this could be monitored on a daily basis

For proper planning for education, real time data

of in school & out of school children. Every child of

the state should have basic elementary education

is the mandate of the Government.

Availability on real time basis at all levels of governance i.e.

Physical & financial progress on expenditure. Early & real time availability of progress report shall ensure

accurate & proper planning.




Horticulture Department

Education to Villagers: Illiteracy among the

farmers regarding the uses of various types of

fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, urea, etc.

Awareness about the advantages about urea etc.

can be given to the people.

Data can be collected at the village level itself on Area &

production of fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices & medical

plants.

This data can be used to monitor the trend in production,

data can be shared with merchants (Market creation ) for

bulk purchase and can also be used for planning of the

scheme

Agriculture Department

Information receipt on different schemes of

agriculture is delayed which in turns delays

planning & monitoring.

Connectivity between ZP,BP & GP can facilitate to prevail

over the challenge

Information dissemination is from soochna Kendra

to GP.

Information dissemination on market price, crop disease,

subsidies etc can be attained on availability of connectivity

between subdivision & GP.

PHE Department

The data is collected manually: The data is

collected manually resulting in unnecessary delay

in the delivery of the services

Better communication flow for registration of complaints

Easy accessibility to the citizens for getting new

connections

Electricity Department

i. The data is collected manually

ii. The concerned officer has to go to the far flung

areas for meter reading

The data can be checked and fed online by the Panchayat

Officials themselves

Common Challenges across Department

Accountability of field functionaries. Proper system in place to monitor the visits and activities of

field functionaries can facilitate to know the conduct &

efficiency of field functionaries.

Accuracy of data For precise planning & monitoring accuracy of data is very

vital. This can be achieved very well by data entry at source

itself.

Timely availability of data. For timely decision making data should be available

instantly. Presently due to lack of infrastructure and trained

manpower at grass root level this could not be achieved.




Physical & Financial progress through real time

data.

Real time data on Physical & Financial progress shall help

to identify discrepancy at a very early stage. It will be easy

to rectify it then and there itself.

Information on expenditure against each head. Utilization of fund can be known from utilization certificate.

But to know consolidated procurement item wise is very

difficult. A system in place which can be updated instantly

as and when any new procurement happens.

Information on assets at ZP,PS & GP level It is difficult to know the assets at different tiers. An asset

management system for all the three tiers which should be

updated regularly shall suffice the need.

Shortage of manpower: Inadequate manpower

at the state, district and even at the block level to

create awareness regarding various schemes and

at the same time implementation and monitoring

of the various programmes

Create more awareness in planned manner about the

schemes and the data can be made easy accessible at

village level

Better monitoring facility through the portal itself

Challenges on implementation of schemes:

Incorrect and delayed reporting leads to improper

planning and execution of the services/schemes.

Fund flow monitoring is also not effectively

monitored in current system

Efficient, errorless, automated monitoring and fund

utilization reporting

Insufficient Funds: Not able to cater to the needs

of all the people due to shortage of funds

Timely funds from the Central & State Government as per

the plan may be released to suffice the actual requirements

Unauthentic data provided to department from

various agencies: Before annual planning

department need multiple of information like

census data, disease related data, BPL data, and

so on. Such information needed for planning is

sought from various agencies that are doing these

surveys and collecting information. However, this

data is not always a good indicator of situation on

the ground. In many cases the data is old and

outdated and doesn’t tally with similar data from

some other source. The planning done on such

mismatched and imprecise information is generally

proves to be inadequate and full intended benefits

do not reach to all deserving candidates.

A central database of all information, which can be

accessed by all the departments who need it, is required.

Any survey done by any department can be uploaded here

for use by other departments



6.2. Information Needs of state RD&PR department and PRI ( ZP/BP/GP)

This section articulates the Information Needs of State RD& PR department & PRIs. It is a

compilation of needs of all the functionaries in GPs, BDO’s office, DRDA & DP.

In J&K state, Panchayat Raj System does not exist in the physical form since the elections

were not held since last three years. In the present system, Block Panchayat is the Block

Development office of Rural Development department, since the BDC was never formed and

Halqa Panchayats are various village level committees constituted by government and the Zila

Panchayat is DPDB. Below are some expectations from the state PR Department, Zila

Panchayat, Block Panchayat and Gram Panchayat with respect to planning, implementation

and monitoring.

Table 10: Information Needs of State PR Department & PRIs


Department of Rural Development & PR, Govt. of J&K

Planning & Budgeting

Non availability of real time data from ZP / BP

and GP for planning and budgeting of schemes:

During the planning data is sought from the grass

root level consolidated at BP level and then at ZP

level. The entire process is manual

Real time data being entered at the grass root level

can help in easier consolidation of data and planning

Data entry being done at Block Level makes the

process cumbersome and error prone: With the

current ICT infrastructure available with the

departments, data entry source for information is at

block level over burdening the system and leading to

data inconsistency

With proposed ICT infrastructure at place in e PRI

MMP data entry points will be at GP level

streamlining the process increasing the data

reliability

Unavailability of data on time: In many cases data

provided at state level is old and hence planning

done using such data is ineffective. Because of poor

connectivity with state servers, data entry takes

much more time than expected. This creates huge

backlog of data entry. For example, in NREGA

backlog of data entry is more than 6 months. This

backlog of information gives a distorted picture about

scheme being run and future planning is not

according to exact level of work done in last year

since much of the information is still to be updated.

Data entry at lowest level will reduce load on upper

tiers and data entry can be much smoother, correct

and on time. Further a demand assessment may be

carried out to ascertain the optimum server

processing capacity and network and bandwidth

capacity.




Manual collating of the various plans / data:

Different GP/BPs have different data collection

methods, formats for data representation and

different coding system.

An online data compilation and application package

can be used for planning purposes

Implementation & Monitoring

Non transparency of works being carried out:

Transparency of works being carried out is one issue

which can be addressed very effectively by use of IT

Digitization of data is less vulnerable for

manipulation and all manipulations can be tracked.

Since, online data is accessible to all and is

available all the time. This makes data manipulation

difficult since there are many people who might be

observing. Hence, use of IT and digitization of data

will improve transparency of system

�� Due to low population density and scattered

habitants into smaller groups and long distances

are to be covered while traveling from one

village to another, creates lot of problems in

providing emergency services to pregnant

women and children

�� Due to vast distances it is very difficult to

provide employment/work to rural populace near

to his village/ Panchayat and Lack of Public

transportation, Difficult terrains

�� Delay in Funds transfer and Per Child very low

cost of Budget/ expenses

�� Lack of resources for preparation of meals like

improper Kitchen, chullas.

The possible solution to this situation can be training

of IT to staff to handle ICT work efficiently and thus

reducing their workload and paper work

ICT enablement will allow state and central

departments to monitor progress of their scheme on

a real time basis. Issues can be highlighted quickly

and any course correction required can be done thus

enhancing the overall effectiveness of scheme being

implemented.

Inadequate Staff: One of the major challenges is

about shortage of staff at all the levels of PRIs and

specially at the GP level

The PRIs should have the sufficient number of

technical/ non technical domain knowledge experts

to cater to the needs of the citizens

Delayed reporting: Erroneous and delayed reports

are a huge challenge for the department. Planning

gets the biggest hit because of incorrect reports.

Dependency on the VLWs for every kind of progress

reporting because the actual real time reports

originates from the field level

Efficient, errorless, automated monitoring and

reporting. Receipt of accurate and timely information

regarding physical & financial progress of schemes

like IAY etc.

With e-PRI, Data can be entered at lowest level

which would be authenticated and available at all the

levels




Bulky reports and huge data make further

analysis of data difficult: Monitoring of various

schemes and activities is done through reports those

are made at all levels. These review reports along

with accounting reports make the reporting system

that is used to monitor and record the progress of

scheme year on year. These reports are bulky and

on paper, making it difficult to analyze and store

them. In case past reports are required for some

analysis it becomes very difficult to locate and

review them

Digitization of whole accounting and reporting will

make process fast, more accurate and storage and

retrieval of reports easy and speedy. Digitized

reports can be analyzed easily in case some issues

come up and need in-depth investigation.

Manual Reports makes accounting and audit of

data a cumbersome and error prone: In

accounting, keeping tabs of so many account heads

and huge amount of paperwork makes the whole

process slow and error prone. Auditing such reports

is also a demanding task and spotting problems in

account is relatively more difficult in paper.

Use of ICT enabled tools which are networked

across all tiers can reduce the burden of making

vouchers, manual entries and multiple verifications.

It will also make accounting transparent in the sense

that at all levels officials can review the account

anytime. Auditing of online accounts is much easier

when compared to paper based accounts.

General expectations of RD & PR Department

Capacity Building: One of the major concerns

about IT initiatives is to train the entire workforce and

make them capable to use the IT systems.

Provision for end to end training for each level of

officials involved in the program.

Political issues: The dilemma of Central ministry on

how to prioritize the programs and utilize the meager

funds just for laying down infrastructure for ICT when

basic amenities are still not being provided to

citizens in terms of schools, hospitals, healthcare

There is need on part of the government to develop

an overall strategy to take the ICT to the masses.

Ministry should consider all the possible roadblocks.

Unskilled manpower: Implementation ownership

lies with persons who are not enough capable on

handling the systems developed in new technology.

Inadequate staff to support Panchayati Raj function

at the state level

Provision of end to end training for each stakeholder

in the new system on using the new technology

Citizen involvement: Due to poor level of

education, citizen at villages are generally not aware

of the technology benefits and they scare of using it.

Awareness among citizen has to be increased. Local

PRIs can take initiative of running awareness

campaign to make the whole project a success.




Zilla Panchayat ( District Planning & Development Board)


Collection and collation of Project Plan for Annual

Work Plan is a manual process which consumes lot

of time

Lack of information system support for activity

planning and implementation

Online submission and collation of Project plan.

PlanPlus Software is now being used for planning in

two schemes

Work estimation and budget estimation ICT enabled work estimation module and software

for budget preparation

Delay in Fund Flow leading to delay in

implementation

Online status of fund flow and automation of fund

transfer


Irregular and untimely submission of Utilization

Certificate and lack of account and book keeping

Facility of online reporting of utilization reports

Data can be entered at lowest level which would be

authenticated.

Incorrect and delayed reporting from lower level

leads to improper planning and expectation

management

Efficient, errorless, automated monitoring and fund

utilization reporting.

Online information about schemes, beneficiaries and

Online submission and receipt of government order.

Irregular and untimely submission of Utilization

Certificate and lack of account and book keeping

Facility of online reporting of utilization Reports


authenticated.

Block Development Office, Bhadarwah


BP plans are prepared manually by collating village

plans which are received in manual format

Planning software can be implemented

Collection and collation of Project Plan for to make a

district plan

Online submission and collation of project plan

would be possible through e-PRI project


Difficulty in physical monitoring since, mode of

transport has not been provided at BP level and

also because of the hilly terrains and difficult bad

roads

Facility of online monitoring can be provided to

facilitate supervision, which can further improve the

quality of the work being carried out at various sites

Delay in fund flow/sanction from higher level which

further

Workflow based transparent system

Irregular and untimely submission of Utilization Facility of online reporting of utilization reports.




Certificate and lack of account and book keeping Computerized account and record keeping system.

The work load on the BDO is in excess due to non-

formation of the PRIs inadequate manpower to

support the administration in terms of domain

knowledge experts

Facility of online reporting.


authenticated.

Shortage of manpower: Inadequate manpower at

the block level to create awareness regarding

various schemes and at the same time

implementation and monitoring of the various

programmes

Augmentation of manpower is very urgent vis-à-vis

the transfer of various functionaries to PRIs at each

level

GP, Khallaini & Dhrudu


Planning is being done through the involvement of

non elected members of the Panchayats and

approved in the Gram Sabha

Elections of the PRIs may be conducted at the

earliest

GP plans are manually made and sent to BP level

which at compiled and collated to form District plan,

which is time consuming and cumbersome process

If BP and GP plans are entered into a planning S/W,

the same can be complied electronically at ZP level

to form District plans

Panchayat is not involved in providing any kind of

service to the citizens of the district. Services are

generally being handled by the concerned

government departments.

No regular staff is provided.

Lack of skilled professionals

Facility of online reporting.


authenticated.


Village level monitoring committees constituted for

monitoring

Due to defunct Panchayats, the persons are working

voluntarily resulting in lack of seriousness

Technology awareness/ Unskilled manpower Provision for end to end training for each level of

officials involved in the program.

Delay in Fund Flow leading to delay in

implementation

Online status of fund flow and automation of fund

transfer

General expectations of PRIs at all level

Lack of information on functions, roles and

responsibilities.

Regular training has to be given on the Roles,

Responsibilities and functioning of PRIs




Limited Infrastructure and communication resources: The proposed solution should take care of the

limited resources at village level to make the

program a great success

Road connectivity is not there which consumes a

lot of time

Hilly and difficult terrains makes the situation even

worse

Providing application forms (for certificates, old age

pension etc.) for senior citizens and physically

challenged personnel at Panchayat

Level

Lack of systemic resolution of grievances of

people, gram Sabha and Halqua Panchayat

Online and multi-modal system of Grievance

Management may be included with the e-PRI

Non - availability of administrative staff:

Administrative and decision making authorities

have limited time to interact with the villagers

Workflow based transparent system which clearly

define and establish accountability

Lack of information on functions, roles and

responsibilities

Regular training has to be given on the Roles,

Responsibilities and functioning of PRIs

Lack of infrastructure –IT and Non IT, Lack of

skilled manpower- Planners, Engineers,

Accountants, Clerical staff etc.

Skilled manpower and infrastructure have to be

provided

Whenever Central Line Ministries mandate online

information sharing via websites, the staff at Block

Development office and the staff at the Halqa

Panchayat like VLWs, MPWs has to run from pillars

to post for data entry, since they are not well

versed with computers and use of web services/

portal

Capacity building for managing scheme specific data

entry by functionaries such as NREGA, NRHM,

ICDS, etc where Central Line Ministries have

provided online monitoring systems, but adequate

training has not been imparted for efficient use of the

systems

Recordkeeping- All registers are manually

prepared, challenges in easy look and retrieval of

information captured

Records can be maintained in databases



6.3. Information Needs of Citizens

This section articulates some of the stated needs during the Voice of Citizens meetings held

across various places and interacting with various groups including NGOs.

The citizens are the backbone of every democratic system, and so are the rural citizens when

we talk about the rural governance. The government department plays an important role in

making the policies and delivering the required services to citizens as and when required. The

citizens constitute the largest customer segment and the most frequent users of the majority of

services offered by the Panchayat/ Government Offices. Different citizen centric services

offered by PRI are follows:

�� Access the departmental services like issue of various types of certificates, etc.

�� Access the departmental services like disbursement of various types of pensions, etc.

�� Access the various Citizen Convenience / Utility services such as payment of Govt.

taxes

�� Use the government infrastructure

�� Access the various types of information

�� Take benefits of different Social Security Services of various Govt. Departments

�� Avail the services of other line Departments through PRI

In order to gauge the intensity of the information needs of the citizens with respect to various

services which can be delivered across the PRI framework, Consultant team along with the

local administration conducted Gram Sabha at two different places in the Bhadarwah block of

the Doda District. The villages were Dhrudu and Khalleni. The objective of conducting two

Gram Sabhas were to have a better understanding and better need assessment of the citizens

in the state and also to apprise the people about the objective of the ePRI and how it can be

helpful to the citizens.

The participants of the Gram Sabha were Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, Teachers, Ex-

Sarpanch, Panchayat Secretary, Block Development Officer and various other prominent

citizens. The methodology used to interact with the citizens was Gram Sabhas and one on one

interaction. The soul objective of the discussion was to gauge the efficiency of services

provided, take their suggestions to improve the existing service delivery and also to

understand their expectation of new services that they wanted to have at Gram level. The

Panchayat Secretary or the Village Level Worker plays crucial role in educating the people

about various schemes.



During the time of Gram Sabha at Dhrudu, the consultant team found out that the citizens

were not much aware about the roles and responsibilities of the Panchayats. They were more

or less dependent on the Block Development Officer for deriving any kind of benefits.

However, the people had sufficient knowledge about various schemes that were in operation

and had projected their needs and requirements to the Team.

GRAM SAHBHA AT DHRUDU

Figure 17: Gram Sabha Dhrudu

Citizens discussing about their needs After Gram Sabha discussion with citizens

Team with citizens outside Panchayat Ghar Team in discussion with the citizens



GRAM SABHA AT KHALLENI

Figure 18: Gram Sabha at Khallaini

Expectations of Rural Citizen are availability of Government Services at their doorstep in a

convenient manner at a low or minimal cost. Appropriate and reliable information on market

price of agricultural produces, job opportunities and various welfare services is highly essential

for them. Besides that the citizens are more concerned about the awareness regarding the

process of delivery of services like finding the right application form for the particular services

which is a very difficult task for majority of people living in the rural areas since most of them

are illiterate. The other demand from the citizens was regarding payments of utility bills such

as electricity, water, telephone etc.

Senior citizens at the Gram Sabha

Team gathering details about the village profile

Team with BDO addressing the gathering

Discussing about the needs of the citizens



Table 11: Gram Sabha Findings (Information Needs of Citizens)


Citizens (Including Gram Sabha Members)

Citizens are not aware about the roles &

responsibilities of PRIs and also on Gram

Sabha

Creating awareness about roles, responsibilities and

accountabilities of PRIs and Line Departments and also on

Social Audit. Sharing proceedings of GP’s monthly meetings

and Gram Sabha on notice boards will help.

Farmers not aware about information on

allotment of seeds & fertilizer for there

village as society not located in village

Information on Stock of seeds & fertilizer allotted to village

through the societies can be made available to GP through

online portal

Villagers not aware of all Government

Schemes

Kiosk can be implemented at GP level to provide information

or other means of providing information can be road shows,

announcement or advertisement in villages/ portal can also

provide information on services/ Citizen Charter can be

displayed at GP

Information on alternate delivery points for

the services

Service directory can be created and uploaded on

Panchayat portal , which can provide information on delivery

channels

Tracking of Status of application of schemes Create provision in the Panchayat portal for checking the

status of application

Ex-Sarpanch

The decisions made at the Gram Sabha, are

modified as they move to the higher levels

The plans once made at the GramSabha in the presence of

citizens from all walks of life , government officers, self help

groups and other social organization should not be changed

The working executives in the Panchayats

are not being rewarded with any kind of

Traveling allowances or special allowances

The compensation withhold by the Government may be

released as soon as possible

Funds not directly being transferred to the

Panchayats Accounts

With the e-PRI in place and sufficient domain knowledge

expert assigned to the Panchayats, the flow of funds can be

tracked and timely release of funds to the Panchayats

Delay in processing of pension applications The applications for pension schemes should be processed

through the lowest level i.e. the Halqa Panchayat

Panchayat Ghars are not available With the delimitation of Panchayats, more number of

Panchayat Ghars would be required




Focus Group – Woman & Child

The Anganwadi workers are not being paid

their compensations regularly. The payment

is mostly done twice a year and sometimes

not in totality.

The payments can be made online directly to their salary

accounts

Focus Group –Senior Citizens

i. The pension amount is too meager

ii. Long procedures of getting bank account

opened and attain other benefits

i. The pension can be directly disbursed from the Gram

Panchayat

ii. The pension can also be transferred online

Other general expectations of the villagers with respect to the e-PRI

i. The levels of education are declining due

to unskilled teachers and mentors.

ii. Difficulty in commuting due to high

terrains and bad roads

iii. Not aware about all the schemes and

their purposes

iv. Banking and postal services not

available in all the villages

v. Villagers have to travel to the Block and

District for getting the various kinds of

certificates like Caste, income etc.

vi. The elected members of the Panchayats

are not educated

vii. Villagers have to wait for the Patwari to

get the land records

viii. No training for the various schemes is

given to the concerned person

ix. Traveling to far flung places for collection

of pension

• Issue of Licenses to shops, tea stalls, hotels, kirana

stores, medical stores or for any business activity.

• Issue of Income & Character Certificate

• Details of benefits/subsidies being availed by a person in

panchayat.

• Availability of Application forms for schemes at the

Panchayat level

• Application for inclusion in BPL list, which requires data

in specific format.

• Information on schedule of health camps, Immunization

schedule and reports.

• Information about various subsidies being provided by

the government for purchase of seeds, fertilizers,

chemicals, pesticides

• Availability of drinking water test data and soil testing

facility.

• Facilitation of Grievance redressal at Gram Panchayat

level Health Camps

• Monetary assistance for treatment for major illness for

members of BPL.

• Routine health and eye check ups at village level for

senior citizens. Currently the facility is available at Block

level.

• Availability of street lights



Other Demands of the Citizens

�� The citizens of the village feel that the funds under the NREGS are very less. The

private hirers pay an amount of Rs. 133 minimum per day, whereas in the NREGS the

funds are only Rs. 70. The people want that the amount of daily wage should be raised

to at least Rs. 130-140.

�� The payment to the Anganwadi workers is being done after a gap of 3-6 months. They

should be paid at regular intervals without delaying their salaries.

�� The citizens want that every village should have an Anganwadi Center, and the helpers

and workers should be from that same village itself.

�� The citizens face difficulty in coming from far flung places for opening a bank account

and receiving pensions. They want that the nearest branch of the bank should be

utilized and if possible the payment of pension should be made through Panchayats.

�� The education levels are going down, hence the people want that the education level

should be raised by providing quality education so that people don’t have to rush to

private schools. The education should be made free and compulsory for all.

�� The citizens also demand that the services delivery levels should be reduced so that

the services are delivered at faster pace with less hurdles.

�� The most common problem being faced by people is that of commuting from one place

to the other due to difficult terrains. Better road connectivity.

�� The issue of honorarium to Panch and Sarpanch: One of the ex-Sarpanches during an

interview said “right now only the rich can contest for Panchayat elections”. What he

meant by this was basically that as Panch and Sarpanch individuals have to travel to

block and district headquarters and have to put a lot of their personal work aside that

gives them an income. But someone who is a wage laborer for instance will not be in a

position to lose wages for many days in the work of Panchayats. Therefore if the

Panchayat representatives like any other functionary has to work full time towards

development of Halqa Panchayat compensation of their time has to be done

adequately. The Jammu and Kashmir Panchyati Raj Act has made a provision

(Chapter 2, point 10) for this and therefore it is a mere matter of implementation.



6.4. Service Needs of Citizens

Table 12: Service Needs of Citizens


Citizens (Including Gram Sabha Members)

Villagers have to travel to far off villages pay electricity & telephone bills

Online portal (ePanchayat) can be enhanced to provide utility bill payment services like electricity and telephone bill

Villagers have to wait to patwari to visit village to get land records

Land record system can be used to provide land records at GP level

Villagers have to travel to tehsil office for getting various like Income, Caste, etc.

GP can provide banking and postal services by tie with banks & postal departments

Delay in processing of Agriculture & Horticulture department services for farmers

ICT can be used at GP for application filling & track the status of applications for these services

Banking & Postal services not available in village

Create provision in the Panchayat portal for checking the status of application

Disbursement and Monitoring of funds under IAY, as there are case where in beneficiary have availed the benefit but not utilized it for construction of house

This scheme monitoring and disbursement of funds should be rested with the GP

Overall analysis of expectations from e-PRI project:

The I&S needs of the line departments gathered from the meetings with the departments

basically details about the followings:

�� Real time tracking of the physical and financial progress of works

�� Convergence of departments

�� Progress reviews and reporting of the information to the higher management.

The I&S needs of the PRIs details about the followings:

�� To have timely information from the concerned line departments about the Centrally

Sponsored schemes, its guidelines and proceedings related to these.

�� Clarification of roles and responsibilities of different tiers of the PRIs.

�� Addressing their training needs to handle the CSS and its services.

�� Mechanism for reporting the physical, financial progress and manpower related issues

to the concerned officials.

�� Proper office or premises to carry out responsibilities.



The I & S needs of the citizens are as follows:

�� Roles of responsibilities of Panchayats in their localities.

�� Information about the Centrally Sponsored Schemes and its benefits.

�� Grievances handling mechanism.

�� Citizen centric services which can be delivered by the PRIs.

The majority of the citizens J&K are in the interest of the elections of the Panchayats to be

conducted as soon as possible without any political interference with transparency and

accountability. They also feel that more and more powers should be delegated to them, so that

effective local development could take place. What they mean to say is that effective

devolutions of all the three F’s i.e. Functions as per the 11th schedule may be transferred

immediately to PRIs framework and the Functionaries may be identified from all the line

departments and may be put to the disposal of the PRIs and last but not the least is that the

sufficient funds should be transferred to PRIs for effective amalgamation of the 3 F’s.

The Panchayats should be treated as separate entity and be given all the powers to utilize the

funds as per the needs and wants of the citizens. All the decisions made at the Gram Sabha

should not be changed at any level. Citizens are unaware of most of the Central Sponsored

Schemes, as there is lack of communication from PRIs and Government departments.

Citizens wants that more power should be given to PRIs in order to solve the ground level

problem in time and effectively.

There is a need for the awareness program that should be organized from the government

departments or PRIs to keep the citizens updated about the development activities happening

in the region. In the district development of basic amenities like roads, electricity,

communications, schools, sanitations etc is required, in order to get the desired results. There

is need to an effective complaint mechanism which can improve citizen services and get rid of

their grievances.

To conclude, due to lack of funds and resources and infrastructure the PRIs are

handicapped to provide services to the citizens at the grassroots level. The PRIs, whenever

comes into existence, would require proper premises or offices and regular staff to make

them functional and accountable



7. e-Governance Readiness

This section examines the current state of ICT infrastructure in place and identifies the challenges

and way forward. In the state of J&K, the e-Governance is in the nascent stage.

As per the study conducted, team found out that generally most of the line of departments in the

district does the reporting work manually due lack of skilled professionals, inadequate training and

poor connectivity which takes lot of time in the completion of work.

In the blocks, earlier Community Information Centres (CICs) were functioning which are now almost

non functional in most of the places due to non availability of the policy decision on the annual

maintenance contracts and a viable business model to run these CICs. These centres are connected

through V-SAT systems. The state of J&K also faces the lack of basic problems like electricity,

connectivity through roads or railways and communication which makes it really difficult to set up

centres at distant blocks and villages.

Department of IT, GoI, through NIC has established Community Information Centers (CIC) at each

Block in the State of J&K. The complete funding of the project for the establishment of IT and Non-IT

Infrastructure except for the civil Infrastructure was provided by the GoI including the salaries of the

manpower recruited for the period of 5 years. At present, the responsibility of managing the CICs has

been transferred by NIC to state Government.

The CICs are basically planned to be a self sustaining unit wherein the revenue generation is

envisioned based on the various courses to be launched through the CICs. Besides, that the CICs

are also been used for the various e-Governance activities like data entry of various CSS, CSS, SAS

and for monitoring purposes.

DIT has funded the project and has the responsibility of overall monitoring and management. NIC

was the Implementation agency. Application Software development and Training of CIC Operators

are a part of NIC’s responsibilities. The State Governments were entrusted with the mandate of site

selection, preparation and maintenance, manpower recruitment and identification and creation of

content for various services/applications to be delivered through the CICs.

As per the arrangement, DIT/NIC has provided the manpower support and technical and

maintenance for the period of five years along with satellite connectivity through the V-SATs.

However, the consultant team observed that, further to the handing over of the CICs to the state

governments, most of the CICs are non-functional either because of not having the proper AMC with

the vendors or because the state governments could not evolve a viable business model to make the

CICs self-sustaining during these five years.



7.1. Initiatives for computerization of PRI

The Government of J&K is very keen on implementing e-Governance in the State. However,

there are not many initiatives taken by the department as far as Computerization of PRI is

concerned. The main reason pertaining to this is that J&K has been under militancy for almost

two decades because of which elections of Panchayats could not be conducted. Nevertheless,

after seventies elections were held in the year 2001 under the provisions of Panchayati Raj

Act 1989 and the rules made there under. This was a major step forward at that critical

juncture due to the adverse security scenario prevailing in the State. However, further to the

expiry of the term of Panchayats, the fresh elections could not be held due to various reasons

across state. Also when the Panchayats were in existence, the three tier PRI structure was

never formed. The government has also not taken any initiative for computerization of PRI.

NIC is playing the major and important role in introducing the e-Governance in the state of

J&K, though the Govt. of J&K itself has till now not taken any significant initiative in

encouraging IT usage in the any tier of Government, this may be because of various critical

issues where the Government has to concentrate more and in a way not focusing or

understanding the importance of IT on account of good governance.

7.2. Extent of integration of NeGP initiatives with PRI

Under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Department of IT, GoI, three Mission Mode

Projects have been identified to facilitate the speedy implementation of computerization across

all the States. These projects are:

�� State Wide Area Network (SWAN)

�� State Data Centre (SDC)

�� Common Service Centre (CSC)

These infrastructures make all government service accessible to the common man in his

locality, through common delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency & reliability of

such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man.

The current status of the following infrastructure is as follows:

Common Service Centers:

The Jammu & Kashmir e-Governance Agency (J&KeGA), is the State Designated Agency

(SDA) and has been responsible for the execution of the project. J&K Bank has been selected

as a Service Centre Agency (SCA) for the establishment of 1109 No. of CSCs in the J&K. As

on 31st Aug 2009, 50 CSCs have been commissioned and the expected date of completion is

June 2010.



The Jammu and Kashmir Bank on 19th Feb 2009 has signed a Master Service Agreement with

the government of J&K to act as a Service Center Agency for implementing the CSCs. The

CSC scheme of the e-Governance plan envisages setting up of 1106 Common Service

Centers through eligible Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) in all the 22 districts of the state.

The PP model is being followed wherein the J&K Bank is financing the amount required for

getting the franchisees of the CSCs.

The service centers will be provided with adequate IT infrastructure for providing various

governmental, educational, health and financial services to the rural populace of the state. The

J&K bank is the only bank in the country which has been entrusted with the job of

implementation of the scheme. The Bank will also finance the prospective entrepreneurs for

setting up of State of the art centers.

Figure 19: NeGP MMPs Integration

CSC

SWAN SDC



State Data Centre:

The State Data Center also one of the MMPs under NeGP, has not been implemented in the

state of Jammu & Kashmir till now. Government of J&K has just started the process for

preparation of RFP, through the consultant. The deadline to complete the work is Jan – March

2010.

State Wide Area Network:

The modalities for the establishment of SWAN are under progress. The stakeholders for this

prestigious project are:

�� Department of IT (DIT), Government of J&K

�� National Informatics Center (NIC)

�� Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL)

�� SeMT (State e-Mission Team)

The NIC is the facilitator and DIT, Government of J&K has appointed SeMT as Consultant

team for drafting RFP, DPR and SLA.

Overall Analysis: It is evident from the above picture that the integration of all the three

MMPs are of paramount importance where the concept was that the CSCs in the rural areas/

villages will work as a front end delivery points for the delivery of various government services

and the information flow would be possible from the database of various departments stored

at the State Data Centre along with various applications through the State Wide Area

Network.

Since the government of J&K is still in the process of implementation of the NeGP MMPs,

the integration with the e-PRI MMPs is possible in better way. e-PRI MMP can lay the strong

foundation of e-Governance by leveraging the core infrastructure i.e. SWAN, SDC and CSCs,

which are being planned for implementations by the government. An integrated framework

is expected to improve efficiency of the department functioning which will eventually lead to

a significant improvements in the quality of services provided to the citizens



7.3. ICT Infrastructure Assessment

The Department of Rural Development, Govt. of J&K, is deficient in terms of proper ICT

infrastructure. The department has not yet thought about the implementation of ICT in the

different levels of authority. The department is in the process of developing application

software for the online monitoring. The RD department is not having any separate IT cell to

cater the need of the various branch offices and the IT spending by the department is

negligible.

Community Information Centre

During the ICT assessment at the block and discussions with various officials, it has been

bought out that most of the CICs are non functional because of improper maintenance of the

ICT infrastructure available at the CICs and not having any policy in place for entering into the

AMCs. It has also been observed that most of the officials are lacking in knowledge about the

usage and benefits of Information Systems.

Table 13: IT Infrastructure Assessment of CICs at Block level

Sr.

No. PRI

IT

Manpower Server

Desktop

Computer Printers UPS Connectivity

Gener

ator

1 Distric

t

NIL

2 Block 270 135 810 270 270 V-SAT(135)

Router (135) 135

3 Gram NIL

7.3.1. ICT Assessment of PRIs:

Since the PRIs i.e. the DPDB, BDC, DPC etc. does not have any physical structure, the usage

of ICT in the current framework is also not applicable. Neither the Halqa Panchayats have any

IT infrastructure nor the any other level of PRIs..Only CICs are available and that too at the

block level, however, these are also non functional because of reasons mentioned above.

Even the Rural Development department does not have the adequate IT infrastructure at their

disposal.

Overall Analysis: As per the study conducted in the district the team found out that there is

no ICT infrastructure implementation at any of the district offices or at any level of PRIs.

Department officials generally do the manual reporting and maintenance of records, due to the

lack of skilled professionals who can handle computer systems and ICT infrastructure. At the

district level, there is no proper infrastructure at any tiers of PRIs which can support the ICT

implementation.



During the ICT assessment at the block and discussions with various officials, it has been

bought out that most of the CICs are non functional because of improper maintenance of the

ICT infrastructure available at the CICs and not having any policy in place for entering into the

AMCs.

It has also been observed that most of the officials are lacking in knowledge about the usage

and benefits of Information Systems. At the time of the visit to the two Panchayats at Khalleni

and Dhrudu, it was brought to notice that there is no availability of computers at the village

level, however, it was told to the team that provisions are being made for computerizing.

7.4. Civil work Assessment

Panchayat Profile:

The profile of the Panchayats in the state of Jammu & Kashmir as per the recent data7 after

the dissolution of the PRIs is as under:

Table 14: Panchayat Profile

Sr. No. Panchayat Profile Particular

1 No. of Districts 22

2 No. of Tehsils 82

3 No. of Blocks 143

4 No. of Panchayats 4139

5 No. of Panch constituencies 29797

6 Average area per Panchayat 25 sq. kms.

7 Average population per Panchayat 3022

8 No. of Panchayats with Panchayat Ghars 1817

9 No. of Panchayats without Panchayat Ghars 2322

7 Source: Presentation given by IMPA to the 13

th finance Commission in June 2009.




While visiting the site of the two Gram Panchayats in the state of J&K, the 3i-infotech team

observed that at both the places Dhrudu and Khalleni the Panchayat Ghars were in good

shape and were frequently used to conduct Gram Sabhas and other meetings. Yet, the

number of Panchayat Ghars is not sufficient to fulfill the purpose.

Out of 4139 Panchayats notified as per the Government regulations, there are a total of 232

Panchayats in Doda district. Of all the Panchayats in Doda only 94 of them have managed to

get a Panchayat Ghar for themselves and the construction of 18 Panchayat Ghars are in

progress or held up due to varied reasons, whereas, there is a need for 120 more Panchayat

Ghars. The identification of suitable spaces for these Panchayat Ghars is yet to be done.

Prior to establishing ICT state require electricity and civil works construction to be provided for

conducive ICT environment. The administration has taken only a few initiatives to computerize

the line of departments and the PRIs are not trained or provided any infrastructure for ICT

usage.

Figure 20: Panchayat Ghar Status

Panchayat Ghars in Doda

41%

0%

51%

8% No. of PanchayatGhars owned by thegovt. in DodaNo. of PanchayatGhars rented

No. of PanchayatGhars Required

No. of PanchayatGhars in progress

As per the study that was conducted in the Doda District, it was found out that of 232

Panchayat Ghars 40 percent of Panchayat Ghars are owned by the government in Doda and

none of them is rented. The percentages of Panchayat Ghars that are required to be

constructed are 52 percent and 8 percent are still under construction as shown in the figure

above.



8. State Capacity Assessment

The existing Panchayat Raj staff at each level can be categorized into following groups for purpose of

discussion

�� Elected Body

�� Administrative staff

�� Establishment and Accounts staff

�� Technical staff for administrative department

�� IT staff

�� Other support staff

Since the PRIs do not exist in J&K, all the positions are vacant at all the levels of PRIs. Without the

adequate supporting manpower placed at the disposal of the PRIs at each level, the PRIs will not be

able to efficiently delivery the services and perform the regular activities such as planning, accounting

etc. The officials of the Rural Development department are handling additional responsibilities related

to the PRI activities. The state of J&K has 22 districts, 143 blocks and 4139 notified Panchayats.

8.1. Capacities

Capacities of PRI personnel:

At the district level, the District Planning & Development Board (DPDB), the structure of the

equivalent body compared to the Zilla Parishad as per the Panchayati Raj exists, but that is on

the paper only, however, the physical structure does not exists till now. The first and the most

important thing required for the implementation of PRI in the state is to have the physical

presence of the DPDB and its staffing including the Administrative, Accounts, Finance,

Technical Support staff. Besides that, unless the IT cell is created at the state level, the e-

Governance implementation and monitoring would not take place at the faster speed.

Technical Professionals

Rural Development department does not have the separate IT cell to provide technical

support. State NIC provides them with technical support whenever needed.

Capacities of administrative officials

Most of the administrative work is done on manual basis. Shortage of computers and lack of

computer skills leads to manual processing of all associated data and file system.



Table 15: Capacity Assessment of State PR Dept

Sr. No. Designation Sanctioned

Post Vacant Post

1 Secretary 1 Nil

2 Addl Secretary 2 Nil

3 Joint Director Planning 1 Nil

4 Section Officer 1 Nil

5 Deputy Secretary 1 Nil

6 Under Secretary 1 Nil

7 FA/CAO (Education) 1 1

8 Director 2 Nil

9 Director RS 1 Nil

10 ACD 14 4

11 SNO 1 Nil

12 DPO 16 4

13 Deputy Director 2 Nil

14 Assistant Director Sanitation 2 Nil

15 BDO 119 27

16 BDO Head Quarters 16 2

17 ADO 2 Nil

18 Editor Dehat Sudhar 1 Nil

19 Field Officers RS 2 Nil

20 Panchayat Supervisor 2 Nil

21 Headquarter Assistant G-I 6 Nil

22 Lady Project Officer 1 Nil

23 Headquarter Assistant G-II 8 3

24 Co-Operative Extension Officer 2 Nil

25 Panchayat Inspector G-I 41 15

26 Panchayat Inspector G-II 80 16

27 Plantation Ranger 3 1

28 Mukhya Sevika 25 8

29 Gram Sevika 125 55

30 Village Level Worker 1455 244



Sr. No. Designation Sanctioned

Post Vacant Post

31 Multi purpose Worker 1446 315

32 Driver 99 33

33 Plantation Supper wiser 59 26

34 Plantation Watcher 324 77

35 Malies 13 4

36 Mirabs 63 14

37 Audio Visual Operator 4 Nil

38 Katib 2 Nil

39 Photographer 2 Nil

40 Section Officer 2 Nil

41 Senior Scale Stenographer 2 Nil

42 Statistical Officer 3 Nil

43 Head Assistant 17 6

44 Senior Storekeeper 1 Nil

45 Panchayati Auditor – Cum Head

Assistant 9 2

46 Junior Scale Stenographer 4 Nil

47 Statistical Assistant 14 4

48 Accountant

49 Senior Assistant 64 8

50 Store Keeper 10 4

51 Steno Typist 15 4

52 Accounts Assistant 131 46

53 Junior Statistical Assistant 27 6

54 Medical Assistant 1 Nil

55 IEC (Worker) 4 1

56 Junior Assistant 249 39

57 Orderly 414 89

58 Chowkidar 86 33

59 Attendant 2 Nil




It was observed that the department is overloaded with various activities, however, the staff is

inadequate to cater to the needs. During the discussions with officials, following was bought

out:

�� Manpower in the rural development department is inadequate far short of its

requirements.

�� With the workload having increased manifold no further addition in manpower.

�� Professional input not available in the desired manner & JE approximately handles a

portfolio from Rs.1.00 Cr to Rs.1.50 Cr. & approximately more than 200 works in a

year.

�� 24 Blocks set up through internal adjustment since 2001 not having been provided staff

thereby over-stretching existing manpower and these Blocks serving as a dis-incentive

in the far flung and backward rural areas.

�� 1/4th posts of Engineers usually remain vacant despite requests made to Public Works

Department for placement of officers on deputation.

�� On an average out of 650 Junior Engineers posts, 100-120 posts usually remain

vacant.

�� Posts in DRDAs are also vacant which causes its own peculiar problems.

�� As against 4139 Panchayats, presently posts of MPWs/ VLWs/ Gram Sevikas who is

also Secretary Panchayat works out to only 2770.

�� VLW, a key functionary of the department, is generally a matriculate and is tasked to

perform varied and complex tasks disproportionate to his capacity.

8.2. Skills and Capabilities

Except for the data entry and printing of the reports at some locations in the state of J&K, no

software applications is used either for Planning, Monitoring and Accounting of various

schemes at by PR officials at District or even at the Block level. At the block level, CICs are

carrying out the data entry related to various schemes.

During the interaction at various levels in the state with different officials, it has been bought

out that there is need of extra training to be provided at all the levels of governance and the

efforts are being made to provide training to maximum officials.



Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development undertakes the

training, research, action research and consultancy functions in the rural development sector.

The training programmes are intended to create knowledge base, develop skills and

understanding of various dimensions of rural transformation. IMPA has conducted various

training programmes for the elected members when the Panchayats were in existence from

the year 2002 to 2007 mainly on the following topic:

�� Orientation Course for Elected & Official Functionaries of Panchayati Raj

�� Panchayat and Development

�� Relation between DRDA and PRIs

�� Orientation Course for Panchayat Secretaries

�� Role of NGOS and Panchayats in management of Natural Disaster

�� PR and Rural Development

�� Awareness on Functions of District Planning & Development Board (DPDB)

�� Awareness on Functions of Block Development Council (BDC)

�� Awareness on Functions of Halqa Panchayat

8.3. Training Needed

Basic Computer training at GP/BP Level

Basic computer training needs to be provided for officials of GP and BP. This would help them

in application form filling, data entry, information gathering and report viewing.

Advance Computer training at BP/ZP Level

Advance computer training needs to be provided for officials of BP and ZP. This would help

them in, data entry, information gathering / information dissemination and report generation.

This would also help them in better planning, initiating, implementing, executing and

monitoring the schemes and services via several tools and applications.

Refresher Course for GP/BP/ZP

Refresher course should be organized at regular interval to enhance the IT related skills of

PRI officials.

�� Refresher curse on capacity building of elected Panchayat leadership, especially

women and scheduled castes and tribes. These representatives, whom Panchayat Raj

has empowered, can become truly change agents in their local contexts as their

struggle for leadership in itself signals a break from traditional dominance structures of

caste, class and patriarchy.



�� The nature of capacity building needs to be more focused, sensitive, therefore, to

ensure that Panchayats are not seen as the lowest unit of government functioning but

an autonomous domain of self-government. Capacity building has to focus on

strengthening the Gram Sabha for direct democracy to function as a watchdog of

representative democracy.

Challenges related to Capacity Building

The challenges related to capacity building in the state of J&K are as under:

�� Since majority of the elected members are both first timers and illiterate too at times,

they need to be sensitized about different facets of Panchayati Raj system. Also,

enable them to equip themselves with proper attitude, skills and knowledge as these

would ultimately contribute to effective implementation of developmental programmes.

In this context the biggest challenge is to take care of specific requirements the elected

representatives of PRIs who form an important part of the clientele group while drawing

action plans and modules in a professional manner.

�� Modules and training programmes need to be designed to redress regional imbalances

in development and the capacity building which the RD training institutions need to tap

by formulating appropriate proposals and adopting suitable methodology.

�� Training programmes need to be custom designed in order to achieve the desired end

results. Use of IT is gaining momentum but appropriate software with local variations

needs to be designed.

�� Most important is the due to lack of networking the existing training infrastructure falls

short of the requirements to meet the training load.

�� A serious attempt needs to be made prepare training material in local vernacular to

identify certain domains.

�� Many studies of effective decentralization reveal an interesting paradox—that it needs

a visionary leadership above to ensure decentralization process. Panchayat Raj

Institutions supervision through Gram Sabhas (all voters in the village participate in the

decision making process) also offers opportunities to make governance transparent

and accountable to the citizen. They have the potential to combine grassroots power of

Panchayats with advances in information technology to radically alter governance and

service delivery mechanisms.



�� PRIs also enable people to voice their grievances and ensure access to basic services

like education, health, nutrition, safe drinking water supply and sanitation and social

security. Female-headed households, aged and the infirm, destitute and all such

vulnerable categories depend on the social security framework. This is a task that can

best be done by local governments supported with funds from the central and State

governments for accelerating development and social justice.



9. Citizen Service Delivery

Initiatives by PRIs

The state of J&K has not taken any extraordinary initiatives for the citizen service delivery,

since the state was under turmoil for more than three decades. Now, since the condition on

the whole is improving in the state, the Govt. of J&K is very kin on implementing the PRI in

totality and holding the long pending elections of Panchayats in the month of Oct/ Nov 2009.

Despite being in the adverse condition six years back, the Govt. of J&K was successful in

establishing the Panchayats in the maximum part of the state.

Even after the dissolution of Panchayats two years back, the state govt. has issued an order to

constitute various committees to oversee the developmental activities in the state and also

make sure that community participation is there in the planning process across the state.

Initiatives by State impacting service delivery to rural populace

The Govt. of J&K has not taken any initiatives for betterment of service delivery to the citizens,

except for the establishment of Common Service Centers (CSCs) in the state. However, an

approximate time of another 6 to 8 months is expected for CSCs to become operational in

J&K. Apart for the CSC, no other model of providing is envisaged by the Government of J&K.



10. Way Forward

The long journey always starts with the first step. The J&K Govt. has already taken the first step

which is very encouraging and commendable of holding the election in J&K amidst vulnerable

situation. As told by the Govt. of J&K that the state is in the process of holding elections for Halqa

Panchayats in the month of Oct/ Nov 2009, the study and understanding in Doda district tender

certain course of action as under for strengthening the process of devolution in Jammu and Kashmir:

The first and the most important subject are to constitution of 3-Tier Panchayati Raj System in

the state as envisaged in the Panchayati Raj act 1989. The physical presence of DPDB, BDC

and DPC is very much required in order to implement the Panchayati Raj system in true spirit.

Without the physical presence the basic objective of the PRI gets defeated.

In order for Panchayats to function more comprehensively is to have the access to more plan

and non plan funds. Since Halqa Panchayat in Jammu and Kashmir would be going towards

its second term of office after the elections they may not be equipped yet to deal with large

scale resources. But all the same for Panchayats to function as a competent planning and

implementation they require sizeable fund devolution. And this devolution of funds can happen

in a phased manner and probably there are lessons to be learnt from the experiences of other

states in the country like Assam, Gujarat, Kerala, etc.

The mere devolution of funds by itself will not result in improvements in the functioning of

Halqa Panchayats. Equally important is the need to build those capacities of elected

representatives to handle these funds, plan and implement programmes in Halqa Panchayats.

Like in most states, in J&K as well, IMPA/SIRD has taken up the initiative to train the elected

representatives to Panchayats. These trainings are not one time effort but they are an ongoing

process with well developed modules for training. The continued efforts of capacity building

have paid off and the elected representatives equipped with authentic information and skills

are making Gandhi’s dream of Gram swaraj true.

The issue of building workable linkages between the village, block and district level

governing bodies that allows smoother transfer of funds and coordination of functions.

Again most states in India have taken up the exercise of activity mapping. Activity

mapping helps the functionaries at various levels to know the core of roles and

responsibilities that they have to discharge.



But the activity mapping has to be taken up by each concerned line department and they also

have to issue appropriate government orders to give official recognition to activity mapping.

Article 243G (Eleventh schedule) provides for the transfer of powers to Panchayats so that

they can be effective institutions of local governance. The constitution has listed down 29

matters that are open for the devolution. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir through

order No. 21 delegated the list of areas and activities that would fall under the purview of

Panchayats. Initially 9 subjects were transferred to the jurisdiction of Panchayats and

subsequently this list has grown to include 15 subjects.

The next step in e-PRI MMP is to analyze As-Is process, evolve To-Be process, and prepare

Business Process Re-engineering report. The BPR would eventually lead to the final phase.

The final outcome of the study would be preparation of state specific and a national DPR

which would be shared with the states to enable them to directly undertake implementation of

e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions. The brief details of next phases are as under:

Phase III: Business Process Re engineering

Key Activities

�� Study As-Is service portfolio

�� Re-engineer existing processes

�� Create To-Be process maps for new services based on I&S needs assessment report.

Key Deliverables

Process Re-engineering Report: This report would include an 'As-Is' report detailing how the existing

services are being provided by the Panchayats, 'To-be' report detailing how the existing services may

be provided using e-Governance, and a 'To-be' report for processes for supporting new services/

services that are required by citizens but are not being provided currently by the Panchayats.

Phase IV: Preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR)

Key Activities

�� Estimate ICT requirements for Ministry and state

�� Define strategy for roll-out

�� Define project management & M&E structure

�� Define communication plan

�� Define change management strategy

�� Determine total budget requirements for e-PRI MMP

Key Deliverables

Detailed Project Report (DPR) - This would be a report providing a detailed roadmap for the

transformation of Panchayati Raj system from existing state to e-PRI.



10.1. Services finalized for Process re-engineering

In Jammu & Kashmir, since Panchayats do not exist in the state, all the services that have

been identified are the new services. However, the process mapping of the existing services

has been done. These services are presently being delivered through long and tedious

procedures that are required to be re-engineered. Most of the services that have been

identified are being delivered through the Tehsil Office. The inclusion of Panchayats is

negligible present but the situation will improve once the Panchayats are in place.

Table 16: List of Identified Services

Sr. No.

Existing Service Reason for selection Vol. of

transactions per year (approx.)

Old Age Pension 4200

Widow pension 1620

1 Pension Service

Handicap

(1) High Volume of transaction

(2) Demanded by the citizens during

Gram Sabha

**Due to difficulty in approaching

the Block because of hilly terrains

(3) High no. of pendencies

**Due to delay in payments

1770

2 Birth Mandated Service 130

3 Death Mandated Service 120

4 Unmarried/Married Mandated Service 1500

5 Unemployment Critical Service 1000

6 Permanent Resident (1) Mandated Service

(2) High Volume of transactions 7500

7 Income (1) Critical Service

(2) High Volume of transactions 7200

8 Caste Mandated Service 3600

9

Certificate

Handicap Mandated Service 500

10 Soil Testing

(1) The farmer has to go to the

Block for getting the soil tested

(2) Lack of awareness

6000 samples

11 New Water

connection Basic necessity 150

12

Application

New Electricity

connection Basic necessity 360

13 Registration &

Job Assignment Job(NREGS)

(1) Muster Sheet is maintained

fortnightly

(2) Payments get delayed.

**Due to shortage of staff

6500 since inception



Sr. No.

Existing Service Reason for selection Vol. of

transactions per year (approx.)

14

Application

acceptance &

Issuance

NOC Critical Service 1200

15 Land Records Issue of Land

Records

(1) High volume of transaction

(2) Demanded by the citizens in the

Gram Sabha

(3) The procedure of obtaining land

records is very long

**The farmer has to approach the

Patwari and then the Tehsildar

13000

10.2. New Services

Identification of new services was based on interaction with PRI, line departments and

citizens. In order to capture the specific needs of all sections of society, interaction was done

with focus groups of women, physically handicapped, youth, senior citizens etc. The team also

interacted with DIO and IT department to better understand the feasibility and ease of

automation of the services. After analyzing the requirements of all the stakeholders five

services were finalized for detail study and TO BE process map creation. Following

parameters were considered for service selection:

�� Citizen needs

�� Extent to which process can be improved with help of technology

�� Impact that the service creates in terms of prospective number of transactions

�� Ease of implementation measured on basis of alignment with existing initiatives, alignment with state’s vision etc.

Table 17: List of New Services

Sr. No. New Services

1 BPL Certificate

2 Agriculture Credit Services

3 Provision of all forms

4 Payment of electricity bill

5 Issuance of ration card



11. Annexure

11.1. List of Interview

Table 18: List of Interviewees

Sr. No. Name Designation Department

DISTRICT LEVEL

1 Mr. Sharief-ud-Din Deputy Commissioner Revenue Department

2 Mr. Riaz Ahmed

Choudhry

Assistant Commissioner

Development

Rural Development

Department

3 Mr. Pradeep Kumar BDO-Headquarter Rural Development

Department 4 Mr. Ghulam Rasool

Ahmed

Tehsildar Revenue Department

5 Mr. Ghulam Hassan

Bhatt Naib Tehsildar Revenue Department

6 Mr. Farooq Ahmad Head Assistant, Doda Education Department

7 Mr. Taiul Krishan Senior Assistant, Gundoo Education Department

8 Mr.Vinod Sharma Senior Telecom Operation

Assistant

BSNL

9 Mr. Rajeshwar Singh RTO Transport Department

10 Mr. Abdul Hamid Deputy Director Employee Engagement

11 Mr. Mangat Ram Sharma Deputy Director Youth Services and Sports

12 Mr. Arshid Hussain Tehsil Supply Officer Food & supply

13 Mr. Prithvi Raj Bhagat Area Dev. Officer Agriculture Department

14 Mr. Farooq Project Officer DRDA

15 Mr. Arshad Hussain AEEE Electricity Department

BLOCK LEVEL

1 Mr. Kalyan Singh Parihar SDM Revenue Department

2 Mr. Anil Thakur BDO-Bhadarwah Rural Development

Department 3 Mr. Kean Tehsildar Revenue Department

4 Mr. Mohammad Amin Patwari Revenue Department

5 Mr. Asif Basin JE PHE

GRAM LEVEL

1 Mr. Ashok Sharma Ex-Sarpanch NA

2 Mr. Afzal Ahmed Ex-Sarpanch NA

3 Mr. Ahsan Panchayat Secretary NA

4 Mr. Om Raj Inspector Panchayat NA

5 Mrs. Ujla Anganwadi Worker NA



11.2. List of Questionnaires

The questionnaire has been divided into various sections, wherein each section focuses on a specific

aspect of scheme execution & interaction with PRIs and contains a category of related questions.

State Questionnaire Summary

Section A PR Governance

Section B Services

Section C Schemes

C1 PRI Involvement

C2 Planning / proposal preparation of schemes

C3 Budgeting for schemes

C4 Fund flow and Allocation

C5 Implementation and monitoring of schemes

C6 Accounting and reporting for schemes

Section D ICT Assessment

Section E Capacity Assessment

Section F Planning

Section G Accounting

Section H Transparency and Expectations

H1 Transparency Assessment

H2 Expectations from e-PRI



Section

Question No.

Question Target

Audience

Response

Data Collected

Remarks

A PR Governance

A1 What is the vision of the State PR department for PRIs in the State?

Secretary - State PR Department or

equivalent official

A2

What are the committee's in which the state PR department has representation? 1. What is the purpose of the committee? 2. Which ministry/department has established the committee?

State PR Department-

Secretary/ Director

A3 Devolution of powers - Funds, Functions, Functionaries

A3.1 What functions (from the 29 functions defined in the 11th schedule of constitution) have been devolved to the DP/BP/GP level?

1. State PR dept (for initial understanding)

2. Other Line departments (for

validation)

A3.2 What functionaries have been devolved to DP/BP/GP?

1. Initially to state PR dept.

2. Validate at DP/BP/GP

A3.3 Fund Devolution / Sources of funds State PR dept

A3.3.1 Is there a provision of "Panchayat Window" in the State Budget? If Yes, what is the percentage of allocation

A3.3.2 If breakup of Panchayat window is available, then provide the break (DP/BP/ZP)

A2.3.3 Is the "Panchayat Window" fund Tied or Untied? If tied, what are the types of conditions for utilizing this fund

A3.3.4

What % of Assigned revenues is allocated to PRIs. What is the distribution of these assigned revenues across the three tiers of Panchayat?

A3.3.5 What is the revenue collected in the last 3 years?

A3.4 What are the best practices being implemented in the state to empower PRI and Local Self Governance?

State PR Department - PR Secretary /

Director

A3.5

What are the major challenges / roadblocks faced in implementing the ideal PR governance scenario in the state? (e.g Operational, Capacity, Political, Infrastructure etc.)

State PR Departm

ent

A3.6 What are the components of the District Plan? Are panchayats plans currently being included in District plans?

A3.7 What is the expectation of the State PR Dept. from the MoPR for empowering the State PRIs?

State PR Departm

ent



Section

B Services to be studied

B1 Service Name Delivery Tier (DP/BP/GP)

Delivery Channel (Office, Website, CSC)

Mode of Delivery (Manual / IT Enabled)

Roles and responsibilities (Designation / level of officials involved)

Documents / Formats being used / produced

Service1

Service2

Service3

…… Service n



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response Data Collected Remarks

C PRI Involvement

C1 Present State of Involvement of PRI in the Schemes

Line department officials (initial Data) State PR Department ( to validate)

Scheme 1

Scheme 2

Scheme 3

……Scheme n

C2 Planning / Proposal Preparation for Schemes

C2.1 Who are the stakeholders/officials involved in the planning process?

1.Line department (Initial data) 2.State PR department (Validate)

C2.2

For which Scheme Planning / Proposal Preparation is done at which PRI level (DP/ BP/ GP) and what is their specific role

Scheme 1

Scheme 2

Scheme 3

C2.3 What is the data source for Planning / Proposals at the State level for these schemes?

C2.4 Who are the stakeholders providing the data?

Scheme 1

Scheme 2

Scheme 3

C2.5 What are the challenges faced in collection and collating the Plans / proposals at the State level?

C2.6

Which is the nodal department of State PR involved in the planning process for these schemes?

C2.7 What is the involvement of the nodal department in the planning process for these schemes?

C2.8

Are there other agencies involved in the planning process? If yes, then What are these agencies?



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience


C2.9

What ICT tools (Software Applications) are being used at the State level for the Planning / Proposal Preparation? Is PlanPlus S/w developed by NIC being used? If Not, any reasons

C2.10

What ICT tools are being used at the PRI (DP/BP/ GP) level for the Planning purpose? If yes, what are the data entry points?

C3 Fund flow and Allocation

C3.1

For which scheme are the PRIs involved in the fund flow mechanism? Till what level is the PRIs are involved then which level of PRIs are involved (DP/ ZP/ BP) and what is their specific role?

Scheme 1

C3.2 Scheme 2

… Scheme N

C3.2

Which are the various agencies involved in the fund flow process and what are their roles? In what form is the fund transferred across these agencies? (Treasuries, directly to dept accounts etc.)

Scheme 1

Scheme 2

Scheme N

C4 Implementation and Monitoring for Schemes

C4.1

For which Scheme is the Implementation and Monitoring done at the PRI level? If PRIs are involved then which level of PRIs are involved (DP/ ZP/ BP) and what is their specific role?

Scheme 1

Scheme 2

Scheme N

C4.2

What is the data source for Physical Progress Monitoring and Financial Progress Monitoring for schemes where PRI are involved

Scheme 1



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience


Scheme 2

Scheme 3

C4.3

What is the electronic data entry point for these schemes? And since which year is the electronic data is available for various schemes?

C4.4

What are the challenges faced in receiving and collating the Monitoring reports at the State level

C4.5

What are the involvements of the State PR department in the Implementation and Monitoring process for these schemes?

C4.6 Are there other agencies involved in this process? If yes, what are these agencies?

C4.7

What ICT tools (Software Applications) are being used at the State level for the Progress Reporting?

C4.8 What ICT tools are being used at the PRI (DP/ZP/ GP) level for the Monitoring purpose?

C4.9 Who is the recipient of the funds released by the State for each of these schemes?

C5 Accounting and Reporting for Schemes

C5.1

What kind of Reports are prepared for the schemes at the State level / District Level / Block level and Village level

C5.2 Are there any IT enabled MIS tool available for reporting? If yes, what is the tool or URL

C5.3 What is the frequency of reporting for these reports

C5.4

Are the prescribed format being used or is there any state specific customizations in the prescribed formats used for reporting?

C5.5

How has the PR department planned or is planning to utilize the funds provided under 11th, 12th Finance commission, State Finance Commission, BRGF-Capacity Building grant, 4% administrative sanction by MoRD in context of e-Gov in PRIs

C5.6 How is the funds utilization tracked till the lowest level?



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience


C5.7

What is the frequency of reporting the Utilization Certificate to the Central Ministry? Is this frequency being adhered to? Are there any reasons for not adhering to the desired frequency (if applicable)

C5.8

Is PRIA soft used for accounting purpose? If yes, any challenges faced in using the software. If Not, any other tool used and any reasons for not using PRIA soft.

C5.9

Are the formats prescribed by GoI / CAG being used or has the State customized these formats? What are the major, minor & sub- heads being used for PRI accounting?

C5.10

Which accounting system - tier 4 / tier 6, Single entry / Double entry, Cash / Accrual is being used for PRI accounting?

C6 Overall extent of involvement of PRIs in Schemes

1) Line department Secretary 2) Director responsible for the schemes implemented by that dept.

C6.1

Do you foresee strengthening of your scheme if PRIs are provided with the adequate ICT infrastructure?

C6.2

If PRIs have the adequate ICT infrastructure, what benefits does the line department sees for their respective schemes / programs?

C6.3

Even though the role of PRIs is not envisioned, currently, If PRIs have the adequate infrastructure; will this line department be inclined to involve PRIs in your scheme?

C6.4 Do you see any possible utilization of proposed ICT infrastructure at Gram Panchayat in data management of your scheme even if GP has no role in governance of the scheme? If yes, how



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response

Data Collected

Remarks

D ICT Assessment Dept of IT, IT manager in PR/RD dept.

D1

To what extent CSC is functional in the State? And what are the kind of services extended through these CSC (if applicable)

D2

What is the model of integration of CSC's and Panchayats? 1. If yes, get the details of the arrangement (Cost / Transactions) 2. If no, what are the reasons of not being utilized 3. Is there any vision envisaged by Panchayats to leverage CSC ICT infrastructure for service delivery?

D3

What is the status of SWAN integration / Connectivity till DP and BP level? How do you see PRIs can leverage this connectivity infrastructure (if applicable)

D4 Is connectivity at all BPs available? If yes, is it through SWAN?

D5

Is providing connectivity to GP's envisioned? 1. If yes, then by when and through which mechanism (SWAN or other service providers)

D6 Are there any overlap in services extended by the e-district and those delivered through the PRIs

D7

What is the state of ICT infrastructure in terms of Hardware at all levels of PRIs and the state PR department (e.g. No. of Computers at each level, No. of printers and supporting Hardwares)

D8 What is the model used for providing computers to PRI? (e.g. Leased/owned etc).

D9 What is the Maintenance Model used to maintain the hardware?

D10 What are the Software Applications used at various PRIs and State PR departments and their purpose?

D11 What are the roadblocks / challenges in to adoption of usage of existing softwares

D12

What is the state of Civil works to support the ICT infrastructure needs? What are the future requirements perceived at all levels



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response Data

Collected Remarks

E Capacity Assessment Director level officials in PR/RD dept, IT officials in PR/RD dept

E1

What is the organizational structure/ staffing structure at each level of PRI? Is there any technically skilled (Computer literate) manpower available at each level? If yes, What are their skill sets?

E2

What trainings have been conducted for the PRIs and State PR department? What are the kind of topics covered in these trainings (Specific Applications, Use of Internet, Basic Awareness of using computers etc)

E3

How many people (Panchayat officials) have been trained? What model has been adopted to impart training? What is the cost of training per person?

E4 Is the training conducted in-house by the department or by any external agency?

E5

What is the state of availability / provision of training resource center / trainers for PRI and State PR department

E6

Has any training been conducted for PRIs on Women empowerment, State Panchayat Act, Plan Plus Software, National Panchayat Portal etc.

E7

What are the training needs at all level to support the functions of PR department and to effectively extend the desired services to the citizens



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response Data

Collected Remarks

F Planning Director level officials in PR/RD dept, IT officials in PR/RD dept

F1

Has the state planning dept. Issued notification for planning workflow for panchayats? If yes, give details. About the process flow as well as the notification

F2

Are there standing committees at DP/BP/GP level? If yes, what are the names of these committees? How many members are there in each of the committees? What is the composition of each committee?

F3 What funds are received by panchayats at all levels for which they prepare plans?

F4 Do the panchayats plans become part of district plan?



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response Data

Collected Remarks

G Accounting Director level officials in PR/RD dept, IT officials in PR/RD dept

G1 How many tiers (levels) of classification of Head of Accounts are being used in Panchayat Accounts?

G2 What are the names of each tier (starting from the highest?)

G3 Do the Panchayats use Cash or accrual basis of accounting?

G4 Do the panchayats use single or double entry system of accounting?

G5

Are the panchayats using any software for accounting purposes? If yes, who has developed it? What is the platform (Microsoft/Open Source)? Is it web-based or stand alone?



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response

Data Collected

Remarks

H Transparency Assessment State PR secretary / Director level officials in State PR/RD dept

H1

What measures have been taken by the State PR department, to inculcate practices to be adopted by State PR officials and PRIs to enhance transparency in operations.

H2

Is the state department and the PRI's updating the State Specific PR portal and National Level PR portal to provide transparency to operations?

H3 Have the State department and PRIs been using State Specific PR portal and the National Level PR portal

H4 What are the best practices in the state at all levels of PRIs to promote transparency?

H5 What are the roadblocks encountered in grievance redressal / RTI’s? What are the procedures currently followed?

H6 What is the process of Conducting a social audit concerning PRI functioning and progress.

H7 Expectations from ePRI State PR secretary / Director level officials in State PR/RD dept

H8 How can ePRI project facilitate the involvement of PRI's in decentralized planning?

H9 What are the Data/ Information requirements of the State PR dept. from each level of PRIs

H10

What ICT interventions is the State PR department looking at to enable the PRI to be empowered to function effectively and efficiently (Future Needs in terms of Software, Hardware and Connectivity)

H11 Others



The questionnaire has been divided into various sections, where in each section focuses on a specific

aspect of scheme execution & interaction with PRIs and contains a category of related questions. This is

the questionnaire for the District visit in Phase II.

District Questionnaire

Section A PR Governance

Section B Schemes

Section C Services

Section D ICT Assessment

Section E ICT Data Gathering

Section F Capacity Assessment

Section G Planning

Section H Accounting

Section I Transparency and Expectations

I1 Transparency Assessment

I2 Expectations from ePRI



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response Data

Collected Remarks

A PR Governance

A1

What committees are formed at District/Block/Gram level? 1. What is the purpose of these committees? 2. Are any Panchayat Officials involved in this committee? If yes what is the role of these officials?

A2

Have Village Water Supply, Health and Sanitation committees been constituted? 1. What is the purpose of these committees? 2. Is there only one composite committee for all these or there are separate committees? 3. What is the composition of these committees? 4. Are these committees at Village level or Panchayat Level? 5.How are the committees related to GP? Are they part of the GP or any member of the GP is part of the committee?

A2 Devolution of powers - Funds, Functions, Functionaries

A2.1

What functions (from the 29 functions defined in the 11th schedule of constitution) have been devolved to the DP/BP/GP level?

1.Validate at DP/BP/GP from inputs of State Questionnaire

A2.2 If the identified functions have not been devolved, reasons for the same?

State PR Dept.

A2.3 For each of the functions, which functionaries have been devolved to DP/BP/GP?

1.Validate at DP/BP/GP from inputs of State Questionnaire

A2.4 What are the issues / bottlenecks in devolving functionaries?

State PR Dept.

A2.5

Is there an 'Activity Mapping' document available? If yes, for how many devolved functions is it available? If activity mapping has not been done for all the identified functions, why has it not been done for the rest of the functions?

State PR Dept.

A2.6

For the functions for which activity mapping has been done. 1. Is there a citizen interface? if yes, please specify details 2.Which activities are the most important for computerization? 3. Are there any problems in implementing the same?

Verify the activity mapping at ZP/BP/GP level



A2.7

For each activity for which activity mapping has been done, what is the work performed by DP/BP/GP?

Validate at ZP/BP/GP level

A2.8

What are the powers provided under relevant State Panchayat Act for generating resources for the Panchayats? To what extend are these being used?

A3 Total number of Panchayats (GP/BP/ZP)

A3.1 Number of Panchayats having own premises / offices at GP/BP/ZP level

A4 Sources of funds Validate at DP/BP/GP from inputs of State Questionnaire

A 4.1

What percentage or portion of funds of panchayat window from the state budget is received by Panchayat (DP/BP/GP)

A 4.2

Is the "Panchayat Window" fund conditional? If conditional, what are the types of conditions for utilizing this fund?

A 4.3

What are the sources of funds (such as own taxation, Central/State Finance Commission Grants, Scheme money, BRGF etc) and what % of funds are allocated to DP/BP/GP?

ZP/BP/GP

A4.4

What taxes are collected by the panchayat? How much is the annual collection under each type of tax?

ZP/BP/GP

A 4.5 What quantum (range) of money, annually do the Panchayats handle?

ZP/BP/GP

A4.6 Mechanism for fund transfer (RTGS, ECS, any other)

ZP/BP/GP

A 4.7

Is any budget prepared by the panchayat? 1. If yes, how is the budget prepared? 2. When does the budget preparation start? 3. What is the duration? 4. What are the difficulties in the preparation of the budget?



Section Question

No. Question Schemes

B Schemes

B 1

For which schemes are plans/proposals prepared by the PRI? Which schemes are implemented (but not planned) by the PRI Are there any challenges faced by ZP/BP/GP in planning, implementing & monitoring of schemes?

SSA NRHM ICDS …….. …….. NREGS

B2 Do the Funds form a part of Panchayat Account

B3 What is role of PRI in functioning of schemes

B4 What is the Top down fund flow mechanism from Centre to PRI / Village committees

B5 Who appoints the ASHA workers

NA NA NA NA NA

B6

If there are any physical assets (e.g. computers, table, chair) created via schemes, what is the tracking mechanism of these assets?



Section C Service Delivery Mechanism

Sr.

No

.

Cit

izen

Se

rvic

e N

am

e

Th

e t

ier(

ZP

/BP

/GP

) in

wh

ich

th

e a

pp

lic

ati

on

or

req

ue

st

is

acc

ep

ted

Wh

at

are

th

e m

od

es a

va

ilab

le t

o c

itiz

en

s t

o a

pp

ly/r

eq

ues

t fo

r th

e s

erv

ice?

(B

y h

an

d,

Inte

rnet,

By k

iosk

, B

y p

os

t o

r a

ny

oth

er)

Ag

en

cie

s in

vo

lved

De

liv

ery

Tie

r (D

P/B

P/G

P)

Deliv

ery

Ch

an

nels

(C

SC

/ P

ost

off

ice/

Kio

sk/

Inte

rnet/

oth

ers

)

Serv

ice

Deli

ve

ry M

ec

han

ism

(t

o b

e c

ap

ture

d a

t d

istr

ict

an

d b

elo

w)

Wh

at

info

rmati

on

/do

cu

men

ts a

re e

xch

an

ge

d (

sen

t/re

ceiv

ed

) w

ith

th

e o

uts

ide a

ge

nc

y?

Is t

here

an

y S

LA

defi

ned

? I

f yes

, W

ha

t is

S

LA

( Id

eal)

fo

r eac

h s

tag

e o

f s

erv

ice

de

live

ry p

roces

s

SL

A (

Actu

al)

fo

r ea

ch

sta

ge

of

serv

ice

de

liv

ery

pro

ce

ss

Es

cala

tio

n M

atr

ix in

cas

e o

f n

on

ad

here

nc

e t

o S

LA

Reven

ue

Mo

de

l o

f th

e S

erv

ice p

rovid

er

Rev

en

ue

Mo

del

for

Sta

te

Se

rvic

e M

od

el

(e.g

PP

P,

BO

O,

BO

OT

etc

or

Go

vt

Ow

ne

d)

Reven

ue

Sh

ari

ng

Mo

del

betw

een

Sta

te &

SC

A

Co

st

to c

itiz

en

( S

erv

ice R

ate

s / T

ran

sa

cti

on

Ch

arg

es)

Pa

ym

en

t m

ech

an

ism

(c

as

h, c

heq

ue,

inte

rne

t o

r o

thers

)

Paym

en

t M

ec

han

ism

s f

rom

Sta

te t

o P

rov

ide

r

Paym

en

t M

ec

han

ism

s f

rom

Pro

vid

er

to S

tate

Wh

at

pro

ble

ms a

re c

urr

en

tly

be

ing

fa

ced

by p

an

ch

aya

t an

d

cit

ize

ns in

th

e d

elive

ry o

f serv

ice?

Ap

pro

xim

ate

nu

mb

er

of

serv

ice a

pp

lic

ati

on

s r

ec

eiv

ed

in

on

e

mo

nth

Ap

pro

xim

ate

nu

mb

er

of

serv

ice a

pp

lic

ati

on

s r

ec

eiv

ed

in

last

on

e y

ea

r

1

2

3



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response

Data Collected

Remarks

D ICT Assessment

D1

Are there any ICT based initiatives taken by the State PR Depts. to strengthen the PRIs? If yes, what are they?

DIO, ZP/BP/GP

D2 Have the PRIs received computers as part of any other programme or scheme?

DIO, ZP/BP/GP

D3

What is the ICT infrastructure in terms of Hardware at all levels of PRIs (e.g. No. of Computers at each level, No. of printers and supporting Hardwares)

DIO, ZP/BP/GP

D4 Model used for providing computers to PRI? (leased/owned)

DIO, ZP/BP/GP

D5

Are there any prominent projects (govt. funded) undertaken at ZP/BP/GP level for service delivery to Rural population? (e.g Suwidha, e-Mitra, Akshya, Friends etc)? If yes, what are they? What services are being provided by these service delivery units? Is there any interface of these projects with the panchayats?

D6

Is there any vision envisaged by State PR dept or the PRIs to leverage CSC ICT infrastructure for service delivery?

D7

Are there any CSCs operating in the district? If yes, what are the no. of CSCs in the district? How many are functional? What are the services being provided by the CSC?

Both CSC as well as the panchayats should be asked these questions

D8

How are CSC's and Gram Panchayats integrated? Please specify the model as below 1.CSC situated inside Panchayat Ghar 2.CSC situated in GP area 3.CSC not present in GP area 4.Gram Panchayats possess their own computing infrastructure 5. Any other

Both CSC as well as the gram panchayats should be asked these questions

D9

What are the reasons for not integrating the CSC with the Gram panchayat or not utilizing the services of the CSCs?

D10

Obtain the details of the arrangement between the GP and SCA (Cost / Transactions, ownership, who pays whom? etc.)

D11 What is the status of SWAN The DIO



integration / Connectivity till DP and BP level? How do you see PRIs can leverage this connectivity infrastructure (if applicable)

would be the ideal respondent for this.

D12 Is connectivity at all BPs available? If yes, is it through SWAN / Broadband/Leased Line/fiber etc?

DIO

D13

Is there connectivity till GP level in your district? 1. If yes, then by when and through which mode (SWAN or other service providers)

ZP,BP and DIO

D14

What is the status of implementation of e-District project? What services are being provided through e-district? Are panchayats involved as part of the re-engineered e-district processes? Are there any overlap in services extended by the e-district in your district and those delivered through the PRIs in your district at DP, BP and GP level? What are they, if any?

DIO, ZP/BP/GP, District Collectorate

D15 What are the Software Applications used at various PRIs and their purpose?

DIO, ZP/BP/GP

D16 Do the panchayats face any problems/challenges in the adoption of usage of existing softwares?

DIO, ZP/BP/GP

D17

What is the state of Civil works to support the ICT infrastructure needs? What are the future requirements perceived at all levels

D18

Is there any initiative taken by State/PRI for Data Digitization? If yes, since when is the data available in digitized format? What is the kind of data digitally available? What is the kind of data that has not been digitized yet.

D19

What technical problems are perceived in introducing e-Governance in panchayats?(Climatic/terrain conditions which may inhibit the induction of certain technologies)

DIO

Expectations from ePRI

D20 What is the expectation of the Panchayat (ZP/BP/GP) from Computerization (ePRI Project)?

D21 Which activities/services does the panchayat want automated?

D22 What problems does it foresee in computerization?



Data Gathering Template for As - Is IT Infrastructure of PR Department

Section E

Quantity

State PR Department

District Panchayat

Block Panchayat

Gram Panchayat Item Name

Nam

e

(Ma

ke,

Mo

del,

C

on

fig

ura

tio

n

etc

.)

Ind

icati

ve

Co

st

Per

Un

it

Re

ma

rks

High-end Server

Database Server

Web Server

Application Server

Production Server

Development Server

Testing / Training Server

Low-end Server

File server

Application Server / Db Server

Antivirus (AV) Server

Patch Mgmt Server

Personal Computers

Client Type I (configuration 1)

Client Type II (configuration 2)

Simputer/ PDA

Laptop

Computer Accessories

Laser Printer I

Line Matrix Printer

DMP

Scanner 1

Bio metric device (Finger print scanner)

CD Writer No

. o

f O

ffic

e



External Storage Devices (Pen drives etc.)

Web Camera

Digital Signature

Miscellaneous

Touch Screen

Token Display Board

Generator

AC

Smart Card Reader

Photocopier

Power Backup

UPS 10KVA

UPS 5 KVA

UPS 2 KVA

UPS 1 KVA

UPS 500VA

UPS 200VA

Software

Licensed Software

OS Server

OS Client

RDBMS

AV Server

AV Client

Mail Server

Mail Client

Office Suite

Open Software

Open OS (Linux)



Open Office

<Open Application Software1>



Connectivity Hardware

Router I

Router (Low end)

Switch (Layer 3)

Switch (Layer 2)

Modem (LL)

Modem (Dial-up)

IP Phone

Rack

Firewall

NMS

IT Users

Total No. of Employees

No. of IT Users

Deployment of Applications

<Application 1>

<Application 2>

<Application 3>

<Application 4>

IT Readiness

Networked Panchayat Offices

Computer Room

Server Room



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response Data

Collected Remarks

F Capacity Assessment Director level officials in PR/RD dept, IT officials in PR/RD dept

F1 What is the organizational structure/ staffing structure of PRI in your district?

ZP/BP/GP

F2

Is adequate manpower available at each level of PRI to extend the desired functions & services?

ZP/BP/GP

F3

Is there any technical skilled (Computer Literate) manpower available at each level? If yes, What are their skill sets?

ZP/BP/GP

F4 Training Information

Training Topics

Name of training Agency Involved (in-house dept or external agency

Training conducted for ZP/BP/GP

No of official trained

Designation of officials trained

No of days of training

Topic 1

Topic 2

Topic 3

Topic 4

F5 What is the state of availability / provision of training resource center / trainers for PRI

ZP/BP/GP

F6 Are there any vocational training centers available at GP/BP/ZP level

F7

Has any training been conducted for PRIs on Women empowerment, State Panchayat Act, Plan Plus Software, National Panchayat Portal etc.

ZP/BP/GP

F8 What are the training needs at all level to support the functions of PRI and to effectively extend the desired services to the citizens. Suggest topics.

ZP/BP/GP



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response Data

Collected Remarks

G Planning

G1

Has the state planning dept. Issued notification for planning workflow for each level of Panchayat? If yes, give details. About the process flow as well as the notification for each Panchayat

G2

Are there standing committees at DP/BP/GP level? 1.If yes, what are the names of these committees? 2 What is the purpose of these committees 3.How many members are there in each of the committees? 4.Which sectors are looked after by each of these committees (committee-wise info)? 5.How many times or when does the committee meet? What is their role? (in plan preparation and approval)

ZP/BP/GP

G3

What funds are received by Panchayats at all levels for which they prepare plans and what are its allocation? (Central Grants(Schemes), State Grants, Own Resources etc)

ZP/BP/GP

G4

Are there any plans/proposals, prepared by DP/BP/GP If yes, how it is planned and what are the different components of plan?

G5 Do the Panchayats plans become part of district plan?

ZP/BP/GP



Section Question

No. Question

Target Audience

Response

Data Collecte

d Remarks

H Accounting

H1

Is there an Accounts Code (or Rules/ Administrative guidelines etc) prescribed for three tiers of panchayats? Is this code or are these rues/ instructions common to the three tiers or do the vary across three tiers?

H2

Have Panchayats adopted 'Code of Classification"( Charts of Accounts)? If yes, which version( 2003 or 2007) is being followed?

H3 How many tiers (levels) of classification of Head of Accounts are being used in Panchayat Accounts?

ZP/BP/GP, DIO

H4 What are the names of each tier (starting from the highest?) e.g. Major Head, Sub Major Head etc.

ZP/BP/GP, DIO

H5

What accounting system is used by each level of PRI? ( Single entry cash basis, Double entry cash basis, Single entry Accrual basis, Double entry Accrual basis)

ZP/BP/GP

H6 Do Panchayats maintain their own Account?

H7 Is this activity outsourced?

H8 Challenges faced / key learning from outsourcing of Panchayat Account maintenance

H9 What are the various taxes collected by the panchayats?

H10 Is there any system in place to monitor expenditure & receipt vouchers till the lowest level?

H11

Are the panchayats using any software for accounting purposes? If yes, who has developed it? On which accounting system the application is based ( as mentioned in G)? What is the platform (Microsoft/Open Source)? Is it web-based or stand alone? Has it been implemented fully?



Section Question

No. Questions

Target Audience

Response

Data Collected

Remarks

I Transparency Assessment State PR secretary / Director level officials in State PR/RD dept

I1 What overall measures have been taken at the DP level, to enhance transparency in operations of Panchayats?

I2 Is the panchayat using its portal available as part of the National Panchayat Portal?

ZP/BP/GP

I3 What are the best practices at the DP level and below PRIs levels to promote transparency?

I4 What are the roadblocks encountered in grievance redressal / RTI's ? What are the procedures currently followed?

I5 What is the process of Conducting a social audit concerning PRI functioning and progress.

Expectations from ePRI

I6 What are the Data/ Information requirements of and from each level of PRIs

I7 How can ePRI project facilitate the involvement of PRI's in decentralized planning?

I8

What are your expectations from ICT infrastructure development to enable you to function in a more efficient and effective manner?

I9 What are the overall expectations of citizens from PRI (DP/BP/GP)

i.e new services, improvement in service delivery, shortening of SLA etc



This is the questionnaire which was administered to the citizens in the Gram sabha.

Gram Sabha Questionnaire

Section A Awareness

Section B Information

Section C Service Delivery

Section D Development

Section E Focus Groups

Section Question No.

Question Target

Audience Response

Response from Pradhan

Data Collect

ed Remarks

A Awareness

A1 Are you aware about the roles, responsibilities of Panchayat

A2 Are you aware about the relevant schemes & services extended by Panchayat?

B Information

B1 What type of information is disseminated by Panchayat?

B2 How does the Panchayat provide the information to you?

C Service Delivery

C1

Leading question - Reference to services provided at Panchayats in other States. Are any of these services provided in your Panchayat

C2 What are the services being provided to you by Panchayat?

C3 Is Panchayat able to cater to citizens needs in terms of service delivery?

C4 If not, what are the problems you face while availing



services?

C5 What are your expectations from Panchayat in terms of service delivery

C6

Are any of the listed services (services identified at State / District level, if any) provided to you by the Panchayat?

C8

What is the average no. of visits, that you make to the Panchayat office, before the application for service delivery is processed

C9 Are you satisfied with the charges for availing a particular service?

C10 Are you satisfied with the existing services delivered?

C11 If you are not satisfied with existing services, what are the reasons

C12 What are new services which you would want to be delivered at Panchayat

C13 Are the officials responsive to your needs, requests, expectations etc.

D Development

D1

Are you aware about roles & responsibilities of Gram Panchayat for local area development

D2 Does community planning takes place while project planning

D3 What type of development work is undertaken by Panchayat in your area (if any)

D4 Are you satisfied with the extent of local area development in your gram?

D5 Is Gram panchayat able to cater to your demands regarding development

D6

Are there any new areas which should be undertaken by Panchayats for development work?

D7 Does Panchayat collect taxes / fund for local area development

D8 Are you willing to contribute in development fund if it is proposed



E Focus Groups

E1 Women & Children - What specific services are delivered for Women & Children by the Panchayat?

E2

Special sections - What specific services are delivered for SC/ST/OBC and other minority sections by the Panchayat?

E3 Senior citizens - What specific services are delivered for senior citizens by the Panchayat?

E4

Rural Artisans - Is there any specific scheme / plan for development of rural artisans and industry

E5 Physically disabled - What specific services are delivered for Physically disabled section



11.3. Minutes of key meetings held

Minutes of the Meeting of the National Horticulture Technology Mission

Objective: To get understanding on the working of Horticulture department and their schemes.

Date:1st July 2009 Location: Horticulture Department,

Srinagar

Scheduled Time Actual Time

Start Stop Total Hours Start Stop Total Time

10:00 am 10:00 am 12:15 am 2.15 hr

Attendees

Mr. M.S.Qasba (Director, Horticulture)

Mr.Manzoor Ahmed (DSMS, Horticulture)

Mr. Shailesh Gabhane(3i-infotech Ltd.)

Ms. Parul Batra (3i Infotech Ltd.)

Handouts/ Documentation Shared

Presentation about Horticulture Department (Softcopy and Hardcopy)

Citizen Charter, Kashmir

Organo Gram

Discussed Items

1 The Overall functioning of the Horticulture department was discussed

2

The scheme specific part of the questionnaire was also addressed by Mr. Manzoor and Mr. Qasba

providing clarity on the process of Planning, funding, implementation and Reporting that was

received and recorded.

3 The organizational structure of the Horticulture Department

4 The state of present and potential land under cultivation

Follow up Action Points from previous meetings (if any)

Follow up Action Items Responsibility Target Date Status

Based on the discussion the following line of action has been decided:

Action Items Owner Due Date Requirement

To validate the

questionnaire with

Mr. Qasba

3rd July 2009



Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Welfare Dept.

Objective: To know about the services being offered by the Social Welfare Dept to the citizens

Date:16th July 2009 Location: Social Welfare Dept., Doda



10:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. 4 hr

Attendees

Mr. Phulail Singh (Head Assistant, SW Dept.)

Mr. Shailesh Gabhane (3i Infotech ltd.)

Ms. Parul Batra (3i Infotech ltd.)

Mr. Junaid (3i-infotech ltd.)

Mr. Siraj-ud-din (NGO, Kashmir Humanity Foundation)

Mr. Rafeem-ul-salam (NGO, Kashmir Humanity Foundation)


List of number of pending cases of pension

Pamphlet of all the schemes of the dept.

Application form of Financial assistance under IGNOPS

Application form for J&K Contributory Social Security Scheme (CSSS)

Application form of assistance to children affected by communal caste, ethnic or terrorist violence

Application form of rehabilitation of victims of militants in J&K

Application form of Financial assistance under National Family benefit scheme

Application form for grant of post-matric scholarship

Application form of Financial assistance under ISSS

Discussed Items

List of services that can be offered through the Panchayats

Overview about various schemes being executed by the dept.

Services offered at the Nari Niketan, Doda through Social Welfare Dept.

Follow up Action Points from previous meetings (if any)

Follow up Action Items Responsibility Target Date Status

Meeting continued till

tomorrow from 10 a.m.

regarding the details of the

schemes

All the team members 17-07-09 To be done

Based on the discussion the following line of action has been decided:

Action Items Owner Due Date Requirement



Minutes of the Meeting of the Gram Sabha, Dhrudu

Objective: To give detailed description about the ePRI project and discuss the needs and problems of the

citizens G2C services

Date:25th July 2009 Location: Panchayat Ghar, Drudho



3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 2.5 hr

Attendees

Various prominent citizens from nearby villages like Namabardar, Village Level Worker, Inspector Panchayat,

Teacher, ASHA Workers, Anganwadi Worker, Ex-Sarpanch etc.

Mr. Pradeep Kumar ( BDO, Doda)

Mr. Anil Thakur (BDO, Bhadarwah)

Mr. Shailesh Gabhane (Principle Consultant, 3i-Infotech ltd.)

Ms. Parul Batra (Senior Consultant, 3i-Infotech ltd.)

Mr. Junaid Hashmi (Senior Consultant, 3i-infotech ltd.)

Mr. Siraj-ud-din (Junior Consultant, NGO, Kashmir Humanity Foundation)


Discussed Items

Details about the objective of ePRI

Present situation of the Panchayats in the state

Needs and problems of the citizens wrt G2C Services



12. Brief Profile of Jammu & Kashmir

General Information: Jammu & Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the

Himalayan Mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the People's Republic of China to the

north and east, the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and the Pakistani-administered

territories of Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas, to the west and northwest respectively. Formerly a part of

the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, this territory is disputed among China, India and

Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir is referred to in Pakistan as Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir consists of three regions: Jammu, the Kashmir valley and Ladakh divided into 22

districts. Srinagar is the summer capital, and Jammu, its winter capital. While the Kashmir valley, often

known as Paradise on Earth, is famous for its beautiful mountainous landscape, Jammu's numerous

shrines attract tens of thousands of Hindu and Muslim pilgrims every year. Ladakh, also known as "Little

Tibet", is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture.

The total population of J&K is 10,143,7008 with density of 100 /km2 (259 /sq mi). Largest city of J&K is

Srinagar. The languages that are spoken in the state are Urdu, Kashmiri and Dogri. The chief minister of

the state is Mr. Omar Abdullah. The website of J&K is www.jammukashmir.nic.in

Demographics:

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in India that has a Muslim majority population. Though Islam is

practiced by about 67% of the population of the state and by 97% of the population of the Kashmir valley,

the state has large and vibrant communities of Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs. In Jammu, Hindus constitute

65% of the population and Muslims 31% and Sikhs, 4%; In Ladakh, Buddhists constitute about 46% of the

population, the remaining being Muslims. The people of Ladakh are of Indo-Tibetan origin, while the

southern area of Jammu includes many communities tracing their ancestry to the nearby Indian states of

Haryana and Punjab, as well as the city of Delhi. In totality, the Muslims constitute 67% of the population,

the Hindus about 30%, the Buddhists 1%, and the Sikhs 2% of the population. The tabular representation

is as follows:

Division Population % Muslim % Hindu % Sikh % Buddhist/Other

Kashmir (53.9%) 5,476,970 97.16% 1.84% 0.88% 0.11%

Jammu (43.7%) 4,430,191 30.69% 65.23% 3.57% 0.51%

Ladakh (2.3%) 236,539 47.40% 6.22% – 45.87%

Jammu & Kashmir 10,143,700 66.97% 29.63% 2.03% 1.36%

8 Source: As per the census 2001



Location: Strategically located Jammu and Kashmir State constitutes the northern most extremity of

India. Situated between 32.17 degree and 36.58 degree north latitude and 37.26 degree and 80.30

degree east longitude, the total area of the State is 22,22,236 sq. kms including 78114 sq kms under the

illegal occupation of Pakistan and 42,685 sq kms under that of China, of which Pakistan illegally handed

over 5130 sq kms to China. The State is bounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan and China from the West to

the East.

History: The area known as Jammu and Kashmir came into existence when the Mughal Emperor Akbar

invaded Kashmir in 1586, led by his aide Ramchandra I. The Mughal army defeated the Turk ruler Yusuf

Khan of Kashmir. After the battle, Akbar appointed Ramchandra I as the governor of the Himalayan

kingdom. Ramchandra I founded the city of Jammu, named after the Hindu goddess Jamwa Mata, south

of the Pir Panjal range.

Geography: The geographical area covered by J&K is 101387 sq. kms. The place is home to several

valleys. The most beautiful and densely settkled valley is Kashmir Valley. The Jhelum River is the only

major Himalayan River which flows through the Kashmir valley. The Indus, Tawi, Ravi and Chenab are

the major rivers flowing through the state. Jammu and Kashmir is home to several Himalayan glaciers.

With an average altitude of 5,753 metres (18,870 ft) above sea-level, the Siachen Glacier is 70 km (43 mi)

long making it the longest Himalayan glacier.

The climate of Jammu and Kashmir varies greatly owing to its rugged topography. In the south around

Jammu, the climate is typically monsoonal, though the region is sufficiently far west to average 40 to 50

mm (1.6 to 2 inches) of rain per months between January and March. In the hot season, Jammu city is

very hot and can reach up to 40 °C (104 °F) Srinagar receives as much as 25 inches (635 millimetres) of

rain from March to May.

Political & Government: Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in India which enjoys special autonomy

under Article 370 of the Constitution of India according to which, no law enacted by the Parliament of

India, except for those in the field of defense, communication and foreign policy, will be extendable in

Jammu and Kashmir unless it is ratified by the state legislature of Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequently,

jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India over Jammu and Kashmir has been extended.

Jammu and Kashmir is also the only Indian state that has its own flag and constitution, and Indians from

other states cannot purchase land or property in the state. Designed by the then ruling National

Conference, the flag of Jammu and Kashmir features a plough on a red background symbolizing labour

substituted the Maharaja's state flag. The three stripes represent the three distinct administrative divisions

of the state, namely Jammu, Valley of Kashmir, and Ladakh.9

9 Source: http://jkgad.nic.in/statutory/Rules-Costitution-of-J&K.pdf



Since 1990, the Armed Forces Act, which gives special powers to the Indian security forces, has been

enforced in Jammu and Kashmir.10 The decision to evoke this act was criticized by the Human Rights

Watch.

Economy: Jammu and Kashmir's economy is predominantly dependent on agriculture and allied

activities. The Kashmir valley is also known for its sericulture and cold water fisheries. Wood from Kashmir

is used to make high-quality cricket bats, popularly known as Kashmir Willow. Kashmiri saffron is also

very famous and brings the state a handsome amount of foreign exchange. Agricultural exports from

Jammu and Kashmir include apples, barley, cherries, corn, millet, oranges, rice, peaches, pears, saffron,

sorghum, vegetables, and wheat, while manufactured exports include handicrafts, rugs, and shawls.

Horticulture plays a vital role in the economic development of the state. With an annual turnover of over

Rs. 300 crore, apart from foreign exchange of over Rs. 80 crore, this sector is the next biggest source of

income in the state’s economy. The region of Jammu is known for its horticulture industry and is the

wealthiest region in the state. Horticultural produce from the state includes apples, apricots, cherries,

pears, plums, almonds and walnuts.

The Doda district has deposits of high-grade sapphire. The government has spent a lot of money in order

to boost foreign direct investment. Seen here is a multi billion dollar rail link, 2nd highest in the world.

Tourism forms an integral part of the state's economy. The Government of India has been keen to

economically integrate Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India. The state is one of the largest recipients

of grants from New Delhi, totaling $ 812 million per year. It also has a mere 4% incidence of poverty, one

of the lowest in the country.

10

Source: The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990



13. Brief Profile of Doda District

Doda District was carved out of the Erstwhile District Udhampur in the year 1948 and lies amidst in the

middle and outer Himalayan ranges of Jammu region of J&K State. In view of the vastness of the District

and inconvenience being faced by the people living in far flung areas besides making whole area

manageable , the State Govt. in July 2006 trifurcated the District thereby creating two new Districts

namely Ramban and Kishtwar. On its north is Anantnag and is surrounded by District Kishtwar in north-

east, Chamba area of Himachal Pradesh in south. District Kathua and Udhampur in South and South-

west and District Ramban in West. The total geographical area of the District is approximately 4500

Sq.Kmts.

The District is endowed with vast wealth of natural beauty and extensive rich forest areas. The region is

surrounded by snow clad lofty mountains from all sides and mighty river Chenab flows through it. The

entire District is hilly and mountainous with a few plain and low lying areas. The climate is temperate in

places like Bhadarwah and Gundoh and sub-tropical in areas like Doda and Thathri.

In this District the State Govt. has recently created Bhadarwah Development Authority in the year 2006

and various tourists spots have been developed by the authority like Gatha Resort, TRC Amiranagar, Jai

and Khellani resorts due to which the tourists are visiting this destination which is also the part of District

Doda. After visiting this District, the tourists are intending to visit this destination (District Doda) again and

again. The total population of new District Doda as per 2001 census is 3.20 lacs comprising of 1,65,720

males and 1,54,280 females. The literacy rate for the new District as per 2001 census breakup stands at

53.55%.



Administratively Doda District has been divided into two Sub-Divisions viz, Bhadarwah and Gundoh, 4-

Tehsils viz, Doda, Bhadarwah, Thathri and Gundoh, 8 Rural Dev. Blocks namely Doda, Bhagwah, Assar,

Marmat, Thathri, Gundoh, Gundna and Bhadarwah which in turn comprises of 232 Panchayats and 408

villages. Out of the total population of 3.20 lacs, there are 42071 as Schedule Caste population and 28400

as Schedule Tribe population.

Table 19: Registers at Gram Panchayat

Gram Panchayat Office Sr. No. Records

1 Gram Sabha

2 Panchayat Meeting

3 Cash Book

4 (a) NREGA

5 (d) BRGF

6 Supervision Register

7 NREGA Fund Register

8 Complaint Register

9 Rojgaar Register

10 100 Days Register for NREGA

11 Job Card Register

12 Assets register

13 Payment Register

Khalliani

14 Work Register

15 Muster-roll verification



Table 20: Village Profile Khallaini Village

Sr. No. Village Profile Details

1 Name of Village/ GP Khallaini

2 Block Bhadarwah

3 District Doda

4 Total Population 1109

5 Population Distribution SC-321, ST-10, others-778

6 Total Families/Household 218

7 Wards 6

8 Name of Sarpanch (Ex) Rajinder Kumar

9 Name of Up-Sarpanch (Ex) Ghulam Haider

10 Name of Panchayat Secretary Lakshmi Chand

11 Aanganwadi Snehlata

12 Primary Schools 1, only for girls

13 Middle School 1

14 Hand Pumps No

15 Panchayat Building 1

16 Electricity in Houses yes – all

17 APL 103

18 BPL 115

19 Irrigated 70%

20 Unirrigated 16%



14. Glossary

Sr. No. Abbreviations

1 AMC Annual Maintenance Contract

2 BDC Block Development Council

3 BDO Block Development Officer

4 BP Block Panchayat

5 CEO Chief Executive Officer

6 CIC Community Information Centres

7 CLM Central Line Ministries

8 CSC Common Service Centre

9 CSS Centrally Sponsored Schemes

10 DDO District Development Officer

11 DIO District Informatics Officer

12 DP District Panchayat

13 DPC District Planning Committee

14 DPDB District Planning Development Board

15 DPR Detailed Project Report

16 DRDA District Rural Development Agency

17 G2C Government to Citizens

18 G2G Government to Government

19 GoI Government Of India

20 GP Gram Panchayat

21 ICDS Integrated Child Development Scheme

22 ICT Information Communication & Technology

23 INS Information Needs & Services

24 J&K Jammu & Kashmir

25 LAHDC Laddakh Autonomous Hill Development Council

26 MMP Mission Mode Project

27 MoPR Ministry of Panchayati Raj



Sr. No. Abbreviations

28 MPR Monthly Progress Reports

29 NFSM National Food Security Mission

30 NGO Non Government Organisation

31 NIC National Informatics Officer

32 NICSI National Information Centre Services Inc

33 NOC No Objection Certificate

34 NREGS National Rural

35 PEU Project Execution Unit

36 PHE Public Health Engineering

37 PR Panchayati Raj

38 PRA Participatory Rural Assessment

39 PRI Panchayati Raj Institutions

40 RDD Rural Development Department

41 RKVY Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

42 SCA Service Centre Agency

43 SDA State Designated Agency

44 SDC State Data Centre

45 SDM Sub-Divisional Magistrate

46 SFC State Finance Commission

47 SIO State Informatics Officer

48 SWAN State Wide Area Network

49 TFC Twelfth Finance Commission

50 VLW Village Level Worker

51 VO Village Organisation