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Ministry of Panchayati Raj

ePRI Study Project

Information & Services Need Assessment Report

for

Panchayati Raj Institutions

in

State of Gujarat

By

National Informatics Centre Services Inc.

September, 2009

e-PRI Study Project Information & Services Need Assessment Report - Gujarat

National Informatics Centre Services Inc. of 190

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 Ernst and Young team is grateful to the officials of the Panchayat department, the Line

departments, the State NIC department and every other individual met, for their insights,

assistance and continuous support that helped in the successful completion of the ISNA

report.

The team would like to acknowledge and extend its heartfelt gratitude to the following officials

in particular for their invaluable inputs and extended support through the state study phase that

has made the completion of this study possible:

At State Level

► Dr. Varesh Sinha, Principal Secretary

► Mr. Vipul Mitra, Development Commissioner

► Mr. Rajnish Mahajan, SIO Gujarat

► Mr. K.M. Patel, Under Secretary

► Mr. S.K. Huda, Deputy Director Planning

► Mr. P.B. Mody, Assistant Development Commissioner-Panchayat

In Dahod District

► Mrs. Daksha Ben Parmar, Zila President (Dahod)

► Mr. N K Thakar, District Development Officer (Dahod)

► Mr. R M Jadhav, District Collector ( Dahod)

► Mr. B S Chawda, Director DRDA (Dahod)

In Banaskantha District

► Mr. Dalsang Bhai J Patel, Zila President (Banaskantha)

► Mr. A M Parmar, District Development Officer (Banaskantha)

► Mr. R J Patel, District Collector (Banaskantha)

► Mr. R K Patel, Director DRDA (Banaskantha)

The team would like to also thank each and every individual that it interacted with during the

study phase, without whom, it would not have been possible to complete the study.



The Project Team Consisted of

1. National Informatics Centre

► Mr. K N Pandiya, DIO Dahod

► Mr. Mukesh Sharma, DIO Banaskantha

2. Ernst and Young

► Jyoti Sinha – Principal Consultant

► Abid Husain – Principal Consultant

► Sunayana Padhi – Senior Consultant

► Amit Kumar – Senior Consultant

3. Retired PR Official

► Mr. I R Bhatia, Ex TDO, Devgarh Baria – for Dahod

► Mr. D M Dodia, Ex Dy DDO – for Banaskantha

4. NGO, Datamation India

► Mr. Prakash Kapadia, Dahod

► Mr. Rajnikant Shrimali, Banaskantha



Notes to the Reader

1. All quantitative data quoted in the report is based on information / estimates provided by interviewees and other stakeholders (PRI Offices, Line Departments, NIC as applicable).

2. Qualitative findings and assessments stated in the report are based on validation of facts and

fresh inputs gathered at multiple levels commencing with state-level meetings and concluding at the gram. It should be noted that the findings and qualitative assessments presented in the report are indicative and apply only to the area (district, gram, taluka) studied.



Table of Contents

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................................................11

2. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS............................................................................................................................................13

3. PROJECT BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................................................21

4. APPROACH & METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................................23

4.1. STUDY METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................................................... 24

4.1.1. Stakeholder consultation ......................................................................................................................................... 24

4.1.2. Identification of interviewee groups ....................................................................................................................... 26

4.2. DATA GATHERING TOOLS ......................................................................................................................................................... 26

4.2.1. Interview questionnaires.......................................................................................................................................... 26

4.2.2. Data capturing templates........................................................................................................................................ 27

4.3. SERVICES IDENTIFICATION METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 27

5. STATUS OF PANCHAYATI RAJ .....................................................................................................................................28

5.1. VISION OF STATE PR DEPARTMENT .......................................................................................................................................... 31

5.2. PANCHAYATI RAJ ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE............................................................................................................................ 32

5.2.1. State PR Department................................................................................................................................................ 32

5.2.2. Panchayati Raj Institutions ...................................................................................................................................... 34

5.3. DEVOLUTION STATUS ............................................................................................................................................................. 45

5.3.1. Funds, Functions, Functionaries .............................................................................................................................. 45

5.3.1.1. Funds..........................................................................................................................................................................................47

5.3.1.2. Functions ...................................................................................................................................................................................51

5.3.1.3. Functionaries.............................................................................................................................................................................52

5.3.2. Status of Activity Mapping....................................................................................................................................... 53

5.4. PR GOVERNANCE................................................................................................................................................................... 63

5.4.1. G2G Functional Areas............................................................................................................................................... 63

5.4.1.1. Planning .....................................................................................................................................................................................63

5.4.1.2. Monitoring & Implementation.................................................................................................................................................68

5.4.1.3. Accounting.................................................................................................................................................................................69

5.4.2. Extent of PRI involvement in Schemes .................................................................................................................... 70

5.4.3. Participation in Committees .................................................................................................................................... 71

5.4.3.1. District - Dahod .........................................................................................................................................................................72

5.4.3.2. District - Banaskantha...............................................................................................................................................................74

5.5. BEST PRACTICES & KEY LEARNING RELATED TO PANCHAYATI RAJ GOVERNANCE ............................................................................. 78



6. INFORMATION AND SERVICES NEEDS ........................................................................................................................82

6.1. I&S NEEDS OF STATE PR DEPARTMENT AND OTHER LINE DEPARTMENTS ....................................................................................... 85

6.2. I&S NEEDS OF PRI (ZP/BP/GP)............................................................................................................................................. 91

6.2.1. I&S Needs of Zilla Panchayat ................................................................................................................................... 91

6.2.2. I&S Needs of Block Panchayat................................................................................................................................. 93

6.2.3. I&S Needs of Gram Panchayat................................................................................................................................. 95

6.3. I&S NEEDS OF CITIZENS .......................................................................................................................................................... 97

7. E-GOVERNANCE READINESS.....................................................................................................................................103

7.1. INITIATIVES FOR COMPUTERIZATION OF PRI............................................................................................................................. 103

7.1.1. E-Gram .................................................................................................................................................................... 103

7.1.2. Gujarat Portal ......................................................................................................................................................... 106

7.1.3. SWAGAT online ....................................................................................................................................................... 106

7.1.4. Gujarat Ration Card Computerization (GRCC)...................................................................................................... 107

7.1.5. EDhara (Land Records) & ROR at village............................................................................................................... 108

7.1.6. Jan Seva Kendra...................................................................................................................................................... 108

7.1.7. Electrification of Gram Panchayat Buildings under Jyotigram Yojana ............................................................... 108

7.1.8. Providing hardware and accessories to PRIs ........................................................................................................ 108

7.1.9. Providing touch screen kiosks for easier information dissemination.................................................................. 109

7.1.10. Providing furniture for backward gram panchayat ............................................................................................. 109

7.1.11. Providing Laptop and Projectors ........................................................................................................................... 109

7.1.12. Providing video conference facility........................................................................................................................ 109

7.1.13. Providing GSWAN facility....................................................................................................................................... 109

7.1.14. Providing technical manpower support................................................................................................................ 109

7.1.15. Providing Technical Support and Training Service Provider (TSTSP) under e-Gram .......................................... 109

7.1.16. Providing broadband connectivity......................................................................................................................... 110

7.1.17. Providing Common Service Centre (CSC)............................................................................................................... 110

7.1.18. Providing Networked Accounting Software.......................................................................................................... 110

7.1.19. Appointing Gram Mitra in villages to assist implementation.............................................................................. 110

7.2. EXTENT OF INTEGRATION OF NEGP INITIATIVES WITH PRI ......................................................................................................... 112

7.2.1. Integration with CSC............................................................................................................................................... 112

7.2.2. SWAN Integration................................................................................................................................................... 117

7.3. ICT INFRASTRUCTURE ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................................................ 117

8. STATE CAPACITY ASSESSMENT.................................................................................................................................123

8.1. CAPACITY ............................................................................................................................................................................ 123



8.2. SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES ....................................................................................................................................................... 130

8.3. TRAINING............................................................................................................................................................................ 130

9. CITIZEN SERVICE DELIVERY.......................................................................................................................................132

9.1. INITIATIVES BY PRIS.............................................................................................................................................................. 139

9.2. INITIATIVES BY STATE IMPACTING SERVICE DELIVERY TO RURAL POPULACE .................................................................................... 139

10. WAY FORWARD ...................................................................................................................................................141

10.1. SERVICES FINALIZED FOR PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING.............................................................................................................. 142

10.1.1. Existing Services...................................................................................................................................................... 142

10.1.2. New Services ........................................................................................................................................................... 152

11. ANNEXURE ...........................................................................................................................................................153

11.1. LIST OF INTERVIEWEES ...................................................................................................................................................... 153

11.2. INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRES FOR EACH INTERVIEW GROUP.................................................................................................... 160

11.3. MINUTES OF KEY MEETINGS HELD....................................................................................................................................... 162

11.4. GLOSSARY....................................................................................................................................................................... 182

11.5. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................................... 184

11.6. BRIEF PROFILE OF DAHOD ................................................................................................................................................. 185

11.7. BRIEF PROFILE OF BANASKANTHA....................................................................................................................................... 188



LIST OF TABLES TABLE 5.1: DETAILS OF SARPANCH IN GUJARAT ........................................................................................................................................................ 30

TABLE 5.2: VILLAGE PANCHASYAT IN GUJARAT.......................................................................................................................................................... 32 TABLE 5.3.1.1: DEVOLUTION STATUS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 47 TABLE 5.3.1.2:STATEMENT GRANT IN-AID PROVISION ................................................................................................................................................ 51 TABLE 5.3.1.3:TAX COLLECTION BY PANCHAYAT ........................................................................................................................................................ 53 TABLE 5.3.1.4: TAX COLLECTION ZP-DAHOD.............................................................................................................................................................. 55 TABLE 5.3.1.5: TAX COLLECTION GP-DAHOD ........................................................................................................................................................... 56 TABLE 5.3.1.6: TAX COLLECTION ZP-BANASKANTHA ................................................................................................................................................... 57 TABLE 5.3.1.3.1: FUNCTION & FUNCTIONARIES IN THE PANCHAYAT 3-TIER................................................................................................................... 60 TABLE 5.3.2.1: STATUS OF ACTIVITY MAPPING (ZP/TP/GP) ......................................................................................................................................... 61 TABLE 5.3.2.2: STATUS OF ACTIVITY MAPPING-DP ..................................................................................................................................................... 75 TABLE 5.3.2.3: STATUS OF ACTIVITY MAPPING-TP ...................................................................................................................................................... 77 TABLE 5.3.2.4: STATUS OF ACTIVITY MAPPING-GP ..................................................................................................................................................... 78 TABLE 5.4.1.1: DISTRICT PLANNING COMMITTEE-DETAIL OF MEMBERS ......................................................................................................................... 82 TABLE 5.4.1.2: DESIGNATION AND ROLE IN DISTRCIT PLANNING COMMITTEE................................................................................................................. 83 TABLE : 5.4.1.3: DESIGNATION AND ROLE IN DISTRICT PLANNING BOARD ...................................................................................................................... 84 TABLE 5.4.2.1: SCHEME-WISE INVOLVEMENT OF PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS ........................................................................................................... 90 TABLE 5.4.3.1.1:COMMITTEES AT 3-TIERS OF PRI-DAHOD.......................................................................................................................................... 92 TABLE 5.4.3.1.2:COMMITTEES AT 3-TIERS OF PRI-BANASKANTHA ............................................................................................................................... 98 TABLE 7.1.1.1: SERVICE PROVISIONING THROUGH EGRAM ........................................................................................................................................ 129 TABLE 7.1.19.1:SUMMARY OF PRI INITIATIVES........................................................................................................................................................ 136 TABLE 7.2.1:ROLL-OUT OF CSC-GUJARAT ............................................................................................................................................................... 142 TABLE 7.2.2: SERVICE DELIVERY AT CSC-BANASKANTHA............................................................................................................................................ 143 TABLE7.3.1: STATE ICT ASSESSMENT ...................................................................................................................................................................... 144 TABLE 7.3.2:ICT ASSESSMENT-BANASKANTHA........................................................................................................................................................ 145 TABLE 7.3.3: ICT ASSESSMENT- DAHOD................................................................................................................................................................. 147 TABLE 7.4.1: PANCHAYAT PREMISES-DAHOD .......................................................................................................................................................... 149 TABLE 7.4.2: PANCHAYAT PREMISES-BANASKANTHA ............................................................................................................................................... 150 TABLE 8.1.1: VARIANCES-SANCTIONED & FILLED POSTS-BANASKANTHA ..................................................................................................................... 158 TABLE 8.1.2: VARIANCES-SANCTIONED & FILLED POSTS-DAHOD................................................................................................................................ 158 TABLE 9.1: CITIZEN SERVICE DELIVERY-CHANNNEL,MECHANISM,SERVICE MODEL & REVENUE SHARING............................................................................ 162 TABLE 10.1.1:LIST OF EXISTING SERVICES ............................................................................................................................................................... 175 TABLE 10.1.2.1: CITIZEN WISH-LIST SERVICES ......................................................................................................................................................... 186



LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1: 3-TIER PR IN GUJARAT............................................................................................................................................................................ 30

FIGURE 2: PANCHAYAT GRAM RURAL & HOUSING DEPARTMENT STRUCTURE.................................................................................................................. 33 FIGURE 3: DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONERATE OFFICE STRUCTURE................................................................................................................................ 34 FIGURE 4: ZP STRUCTURE-DAHOD .......................................................................................................................................................................... 35 FIGURE 5: COMMITTEES ZP-DAHOD ......................................................................................................................................................................... 36 FIGURE 6: TP STRUCTURE-DAHOD........................................................................................................................................................................... 37 FIGURE 7: COMMITTEES TP-DAHOD......................................................................................................................................................................... 39 FIGURE 8: GP STRUCTURE -DAHOD ......................................................................................................................................................................... 40 FIGURE 9: COMMITTEES GP-DAHOD ....................................................................................................................................................................... 40 FIGURE 10: ZP STRUCTURE-BANASKANTHA .............................................................................................................................................................. 41 FIGURE 11: COMMITTEES ZP-BANASKATHA.............................................................................................................................................................. 42 FIGURE 12: TP STRUCTURE-BANASKANTHA .............................................................................................................................................................. 43 FIGURE 13: COMMITTEES TP-BANASKANTHA............................................................................................................................................................ 44 FIGURE 14: GP STRUCTURE-BANASKANTHA ............................................................................................................................................................. 45 FIGURE 15: COMMITTEES GP-BANASKANTHA ........................................................................................................................................................... 46 FIGURE 16: SOURCES OF PANCHAYAT FUND.............................................................................................................................................................. 50 FIGURE 17: TAX COLLECTION.................................................................................................................................................................................. 56 FIGURE 18: DEPARTMENTS VISITED IN THE STATE ..................................................................................................................................................... 108 FIGURE 19: DEPARTMENTS VISITED IN ZP ............................................................................................................................................................... 109 FIGURE 20: DEPARTMENTS VISITED IN TP ............................................................................................................................................................... 110 FIGURE 21: PEOPLE & PLACES VISITED IN GP.......................................................................................................................................................... 110 FIGURE 22: NETWORK ARCHITECTURE EGRAM ......................................................................................................................................................... 128 FIGURE 23: COMPUTERS LASER PRINTERS & UPS DISTRIBUTION IN GP ........................................................................................................................ 128 FIGURE 24: CSC STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................................................................................. 138 FIGURE 25: CSC SHARED RETAIL EXTENSION MODEL................................................................................................................................................. 140 FIGURE 26: STATE COMPARATIVE CSC ROLL-OUT .................................................................................................................................................... 141



1. Executive Summary Computerization and IT enablement of government functioning has received a high impetus with

the implementation of the National e-Governance Program of Government of India

The Government of India in association with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has realized that the

eGovernance efforts need be streamlined across all states, thus decided to take up the

computerization of PRIs on a mission mode basis. The precursor of e-PRI MMP study has been

dissevered into three major components namely,

1. Information and Service Need Assessment (ISNA)

2. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

3. Detailed Project Report (DPR).

The ISNA study aims at distinctly outlining state-specific information and services need, as it

was realized by the MOPR that the ICT enablement of all states is not at par, thus customization

of ICT/ eGovernance provisions was of utmost importance.

Before embarking on a nationwide rollout of ePRI, the ministry felt the need of a study of all

states. This study captures the state of various states in terms of computerization, initiatives

they have taken and initiatives they are planning. One more aim was to find out the aspiration of

officials in PRIs tiers and lastly citizens. To achieve this, this study was divided into 4 phases.

The second phase of this study was called Information and Service needs assessment (ISNA).

The ISNA study of 7 weeks was conducted in District, Taluka and Gram level. The districts

studied were Dahod and Banaskantha, Talukas were Devgarh Baria (Dahod) and Deesa

(Banaskantha) and Grams were Piplodh (Dahod) and Lakhni (Banaskantha). The Ernst and

Young team met and discussed with the Officials of Panchayat Raj and Line Departments

(District/ Taluka/ Gram); and the citizen (Taluka/Gram) to ascertain their information and service

needs and their expectations from project.

Key Study Findings and Expectation from e-PRI

► Gujarat has paved its way ahead for IT implementation in governance and citizen services. E-

Gram is the most prestigious initiative taken by PR department to provide efficient citizen

services at the gram. All Districts and Talukas are connected through Gujarat State Wide

Area Network and all gram Panchayats are connected via broadband VSAT.



► PRI in the state is rather evolved. Devolution of 19 functions to PRI (funds, functions and

functionaries) has commenced & PRIs play major role in G2G services such as planning,

implementation, fund flow & monitoring and also in G2C services to citizens.

The summary of various needs of the line department, Panchayat Raj Institutions and the citizen

at various levels that would enable Gujarat in achieving e-Governance to its optimum potential

and expectations from e-PRI is listed below:

► Adequate, skilled and trained manpower

► Timely and quick IT support and Maintenance of IT hardware’s

► Increase bandwidth to ensure optimum connectivity at all level

► Need for integration of data across departments and across tiers in the same

department to enable timely data availability and optimum data utilization

► A single portal that enables delivery of all service/scheme of various line

departments at the Gram level

► Multiple and alternate channels of information dissemination to enable optimum

scheme-service knowledge of the citizen

► A grievance handling system at the Gram level that has provision of bottom-top and

top-bottom communication

► Ensuring optimum utilization of IT infrastructure by providing more services at a

single point of contact- one-stop-shop ( Example: e-Gram ) at the Gram level for the

citizen to gratify his service & information needs

The ISNA report is exercised keeping in mind the specific information and service need of the

state of Gujarat. It aims at helping the MoPR to conclusively be able to arrive at the needs of

the Gujarat state and thus make state specific optimum provisions of ICT enablement.



2. Summary of Findings Gujarat has long history of Panchayati Raj. It has robust administrative setup with supporting

infrastructure in place to effectively carry out its functions.

Status of Panchayati Raj in Gujarat

The State of Gujarat constituted the Panchayati Act in 1961 and implemented it April 1963

onwards. Pursuant to the 73rd amendments, Gujarat Panchayat Act 1963 was replaced by

Gujarat Panchayat Act 1993 and several activities were decentralized by the State Government.

Today Gujarat is known as one of the groundbreaker states in implementation of Panchayat

Raj.

The State follows 3- tier structures which include Zilla Panchayat (ZP), Block Panchayat (BP)/

Taluka Panchayat (TP) and Gram Panchayat (GP). The 3 levels consists of over 114,241

members which includes 831, 4201 and 109209 members at District, Taluka and Gram

Panchayats respectively.

► Zilla Panchayat: Is headed by the President and assisted by the District Development

Officer (D.D.O.), posted under the President as Ex-official Secretary. It also comprises of

several standing committees that plan, implement and monitor the various developmental

programs running in the entire district.

► Block Panchayat (BP) /Taluka Panchayat (TP): Is headed by the President who is the

elected member of taluka. The Taluka Development Officer (T.D.O.) is appointed from

state and is the ex- official Secretary of the Panchayat at taluka level. The TP comprises of

other officers from the Line department, assisting and reporting to the T.D.O. for

implementing the functions.

► Gram Panchayat (GP): Sarpanch is the President followed by Talati. The Talati cum Mantri

(TCM) is the secretary of the Gram Panchayat, who is responsible for execution of works in

the village. At the Gram level, the standing committees are chaired by the Sarpanch

Devolution status of Activities

The center under the 73rd constitutional amendment identified and necessitated the devolution

of 29 subjects to the PRIs. Under the provisions of section 175 of Gujarat Panchayat Act 1993,

the state has issued the government orders for devolution of funds, functions and functionaries.

It was observed that

► 14 functions have been completely devolved,

► 5 are partially devolved

► 10 functions are yet to be devolved.



During the process of decentralization, an exercise of activity mapping of 29

departments/subjects in consultation with the offices of the District Panchayat at State level was

carried out the Development commissioner’s office. PR Governance- Planning, Implementation and Monitoring The state of Gujarat has high degree of Panchayati Raj involvement in planning, implementation

and monitoring of schemes. The 3 tiers of PR Department, i.e. DP/BP/GP are involved in the

planning, implementation, monitoring and fund flow of almost all the schemes at each level

Planning: The State follows a bottom-up approach for the preparation of annual plans. Annual

Panchayat Reports are prepared by all Panchayats in Gujarat. These reports are submitted to

the Taluka Panchayat by the Gram Panchayat. These reports are consolidated and then sent to

the District Panchayat. The Development Commissioner office of the State consolidates the

district Panchayats’ reports to obtain the State Panchayat Annual Report. District Planning Committee (DPC), which is at its initiation stage and District Planning Board-DPB (executing

decentralized Planning) assisted by Executive Planning committee and the Taluka Panchayat

Committee carry out planning activities in the state

Monitoring & Implementation: The State PR Department plays a crucial role in implementation

and monitoring of all developmental activities schemes in the districts. Monitoring activity is

carried out at all three tiers by the DP/BP/GP officials. There are 9 committees at the district

level which play a vital role in the smoother implementation of works and are responsible for the

progress of the scheme

Best Practices of the Panchayati Raj in the State

Continuous endeavor have been made by the state and district Panchayat to innovate ways that

would lead to emergence of Gujarat as a leader. Some of such best practices are,

1. e-Gram initiated

2. SWAGAT, an online Redressal system initiated by the Chief Minister

3. Village computer Entrepreneur

4. Gram Mitra

5. GRAM (Gujarat rural Accounting manual), a uniform chart of accounting manual software

6. E GAM Gujarat Asset Management, to enable ALL PRIs Fixed Assets Mapping & its

Valuation

7. Samras Gram Yojana, Panchvati Yojana

8. Tirth Gram Yojana

9. Nirmal Gujarat

10. Sardar Patel Awas Yojana



* Please refer to Section 5 for detailed study of the above summary

Information and Services Need Assessment

During the study phase of the ISNA it was attained by the study team that need of the various

stakeholders at each level were different. Thus to enable an effective Information and Service

need Assessment, three major beneficiaries were categorized by the study team namely:

1. PR and other Line departments

2. Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI)

3. Citizens

The following paragraphs briefly delineate the needs and detail the finding of these stakeholder/

beneficiaries:

PR and Other Line Department ► Timely availability of veritable data: Timely & veritable data ensures adequate and

effective planning. It was communicated that data gathering at the gram level is a

challenge. Efficient data entry operators who have a fair understanding of the essence of

the data entry are not available at the Gram level. Further the quantum of data entry at the

gram level is vast and the connectivity is slow thus leading to delay in data entries and

availability of up-to-date data to the line departments

► Need for Adequate and efficient data collection and management: Data is sought from

various departments for multiple purposes. It was observed that:

o Data is sought from various sources by the line departments. Variances are often

noticed amongst data sources for the same set of data

o Each department has its own unique way of data collection and management, thus

no integration of the same set of data used by various departments.

o Unavailability of a single data collection method, entry or coding system for various

departments. Further different coding system were followed by the same

department for the same set of data at different tiers

► Availability of adequate, trained & skilled manpower: Departments are inadequately

staffed leading to added burden of roles/responsibilities on a single official. A variance was

observed in the sanctioned and filled posts across class of service. Further a need for

better skilled and trained manpower was desired at all levels.

► Volume of paper work and difficulty in compilation of monthly reports: Manual

Progress reports are utilized by most line departments for monitoring purpose which makes



them error prone. Analyzing these set of data on paper is a time consuming and tedious

activity. Further being on paper the utilization and customization of these reports/analysis

for multiple purposes at a later stage is a challenging activity

► Need for transparency of work at the grass root level was raised by various officials. It was

stated that there is an important need of live monitoring of activities carried out at all levels

to ensure proper utilization of funds and proper implementation. It was stated that ICT

enablement in these areas is of high importance. For example, online bidding & tendering

process

Panchayat Raj Institution

► Integrated portals for all schemes/services: Various schemes/ services are provided by

different line departments. Separate software, different user interface, menu style and

general operation style leads to difficulty in operations. A need for a single portal with inter-

phase/tabs for all schemes and services emerged

► Increased Bandwidth to ensure optimum connectivity: It was observed that the no. of

users were more that the server’s capacity, which lead to poor and slow connection and

thus delay in work. Thus the need of a periodic demand assessment of bandwidth at all

levels

► Inadequate staffing: It was observed that, there is a dearth of manpower at each level of

the PRI. There was a considerable difference in the sanctioned post and occupied post.

Further there is a need to optimize the availability of IT skilled manpower at the Gram level

► Periodic assessment of population versus need of Gram workers: Periodic demand

assessment of posts like Talati, Gram Sevak, Multi purpose male and female workers and

other workers at the Gram level would ensure adequacy of manpower availability at the

Gram level leading to efficiency in service delivery. Most often the numbers of these

workers are determined according to the census population and not the current population

status

► Inadequate training of existing manpower: It was observed that the staff available is

trained only occasionally and perfunctorily. There is a need of periodic training for existing

and new services

► No provision for maintenances and upgrading of hardware: Though the state has

hardware availability, it was observed that it is inadequate from a qualitative perspective.

Hardware available was old and thus not effective. Further there was no adequate

provision for repair of hardware break downs.



► Delays in receiving IT support: It was informed that most often timely IT support is not

available to the grams, leading in delays/no service provision ► Inadequate availability of basic software: In the district and villages that were studied it

was observed that basic anti-virus software were not available which most often lead to

break down of the system and thus delay in work

Citizens: ► Need to increase awareness levels and alternate modes and method of information

dissemination: People in village were not adept about schemes, services, procedures,

rights and regulations. Further a need to improve the awareness levels of the Sarpanch

and the Talati to enable adequate information dissemination at the village was also

ascertained

► Easy and Quick service delivery: Need of easy access and quick access to services

was distinctly ascertained as a citizen need. The citizen at the Gram Panchayat expects

service delivery by minimum visit to the Gram Panchayat ► Additional service availability at the Gram Level: Currently a number of service availed

by the citizen is available either at the Taluka or the district level. There is need of all

service delivery at the Gram level

► Services availability at a single point of contact- one-stop-shop ( Example: e-Gram )

at the Gram level for the citizen needs a single source to benefit from schemes and gratify

his service & information needs

► A grievance handling system at the Gram level that has provision of bottom-top and

top-bottom communication: there is no citizen grievance handling system available at the

Gram level. The informal means and methods, of Redressal currently followed have no

scope of any top-bottom communication to inform citizen of the status. A system that

would enable the citizen to get a status update of his query/ grievance would enable better

citizen satisfaction

** Please refer to Section 6 of the report for detailed study of the above summary

E-Governance Readiness

Gujarat is among the leading states to invest money and resources for IT implementation in

governance and citizen services. It is one of the few states where internet facilities and

connectivity is available at the grass-root level. For example the state has set up Gujarat State

Wide Area Network (GSWAN) that links Gandhinagar (capital city) to districts and talukas.

Many such initiatives that have been initiated by the state are listed below:



► e-Gram: The objective of e-Gram is to develop the Village Panchayat by providing

necessary basic infrastructure as the delivery point of e-services of different government

department

► e-Gram Vishwagram Society e-GRAM Vishwagram Society was incepted on 7 Oct, 2007

for e-governance activities for Panchayati Raj Institutions.

► Gujarat Portal: Information and Service delivery solution for Government services in

Gujarat NIC has developed a portal (http://portal.gujarat.giv.in) which is a sector and citizen

based information portal which provides single page for accessing majority of the

government information & services.

► SWAGAT online (State Wide Attention on Public Grievance by Application of Technology)

is a very uniquely designed and efficiently managed online grievance Redressal system

► Gujarat Ration Card Computerization (GRCC) is a web based solution http://grcc.guj.nic.in,

launched in April 2007 for computerization of more than 10 million Ration Cards in Gujarat.

► e-Dhara (Land Records) & ROR at village NIC, Gujarat state developed comprehensive

software BhuLekh Soft to capture the day to day land record transactions taking place and

implemented it at the Taluka levels

► ROR@Village: Record of Rights at the Village (http://ror.guj.nic.in) is the integration of

eDhara project with Vishwagram project

► Jan Seva Kendra: The initiatives taken by NIC & District Administration in Gujarat, to

leverage on ICT for effective governance. Jan Seva Kendra” (http://janseva.guj.nic.in) is all

about IT enabled service delivery to the citizen, bringing in the required transparency and

eliminating chances of delay, harassment, nepotism and corruption

► Electrification of Gram Panchayat Buildings under Jyotigram Yojana

► Providing hardware, accessories, projectors, video conferencing facilities and touch screen

kiosks

► Providing GSWAN facility, VSAT connectivity and technical manpower support

► Providing Common Service Centre (CSC): as per central government’s initiative state has

given contract to third parties to establish, operate and maintain CSC is select villages

Gujarat government has taken many initiatives to strengthen IT readiness of the state.

Although many initiatives are implemented fully, there utilization is not optimum for instance,

kiosk installed at the block panchayat don’t have umpteen number of user due to lack of

technological know-how. However, basic infrastructure is provided till lowest level and with

little effort state can effectively implement ICT related services for citizen.

** Please refer to Section 7of the report for detailed study of the above summary

http://portal.gujarat.giv.in)

http://grcc.guj.nic.in

http://ror.guj.nic.in)

http://janseva.guj.nic.in)



State Capacity Assessment

In order to assess the capacity of Gujarat state at the Panchayat level, the study team met with

all levels of Panchayati Raj, to identify at all level, the availability of manpower; IT related skill

sets, training provisions & needs.

It was observed sanctioned posts were vacant at the DP/BP/GP and skilled manpower was not

available leading to overburdening of officers with additional roles and responsibilities. This

lack of manpower coupled with poor skill levels of people created a huge gap in what is

needed and what is available.

► Skills and Capabilities: A gap between existing and the required skill sets in the officials

was observed. There is an urgent need to address this gap between the skills required and

skill set available. The hired IT staff (contract) is generally, certificate holders from various

private institutes. The authenticity of certificate is always questionable.

► Training Several training programs have been conducted for the 3- tiers of Panchayati Raj

under the ICT initiatives. These training programs are mainly for elected members

► Training Institutes: institutes like the Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA)

and Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Application and Geo-Informatics (BISAG).Apart

from that, there are other training institutes at Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Mehsana,

Navsari and Gandhinagar.

► Training is also provided to VCE, Gram Mitra, talati, TSTSP, Assistant programmer and

nodal officers through BISAG studio using video conferencing.


Citizen Service Delivery The state of Gujarat has taken several initiatives to ensure effective and efficient citizen

service delivery at the Gram level. Various services are provided to the citizen at the Gram

level via e-Gram. The state PR department has also collaborated with other Line departments

so as to enable service provisioning at the Gram level. Some high volume services provided at

the gram level through e-Gram are listed below:

► Application / Issuance of Record of right

► Dues and recovery from land revenue perspective 1. Issue of Citation 2.

Generation/Modification/Tracking of RC

► Soil Testing and issuance of Soil Health Card

► Issuance of character certificate

► Application and issuance of Farmer certificate



► Application and issuance of Domicile certificate

► Application and issuance of Birth and Death certificate

► Application and issuance of Income certificate

Initiatives by State impacting service delivery to rural populace:

► Jansewa Kendra, operated by Collectorate office in each district and block is providing

services to citizens in orderly and efficient manner

► CSCs in designated villages opens plethora of service opportunity to citizens

► E-Gram, an initiative impacting service delivery to citizens by bringing many services to the

door step of citizen

► Gram Sachivalaya another ambitious initiative by state PR department is the vision to

create a administrative setup in such a way that it can take most of its decision

independently and provide most of the services to citizens from there itself




3. Project Background

Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in India are a homegrown effort to decentralize government to promote greater participation by the ordinary public 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, 6,053 Janpad Panchayats at the block level and 535 Zilla Panchayats at the district level. There are more than 31 lakhs elected representatives at all three tiers.

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 and IT enablement of government functioning has received a high impetus with the implementation of the National e-Governance Programme of Government of India 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 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.

This initiative poses unique challenges, as the coverage of the programme is in itself unprecedented not only in India but perhaps globally too. The geographic and demographic coverage of the programme, 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 programme would face significant challenges. This also leads to related challenges around stakeholder’s involvement in the programme.

This project entails carrying out the following three activities: 1. Identification of Information and Services Needs of Stakeholders 2. Process Re-engineering and 3. Preparation of Detailed Project Report for the MMP

The project execution primarily was carried out across the following five tiers: 1. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (or ‘Ministry’) level 2. State level 3. Zilla Panchayat level 4. Block Panchayat level 5. Village Panchayat level



4. Approach & methodology 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:

The Initiation and Planning phase (Phase I) primarily focused on setting the tone for execution of the project. The key outcomes of this phase were identification of stakeholders, the consultation mechanism with the stakeholders and formalizing the deliverable templates. During this phase data gathering tools and templates were also prepared, which were targeted on focused information capture. The INS Needs assessment phase (Phase II) involved interaction, including a survey, 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 through PRIs and the services that are expected to be delivered through PRIs were also identified and studied. The Process Re-engineering phase (Phase III) 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.



The DPR preparation phase (Phase IV) will be the eventual outcome of the study where apart from State specific DPR, a national DPR would also prepared. This national DPR would be shared with the states to enable them to directly undertake implementation of e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions. The following sections details the approach and methodology adopted during the INS Study.

4.1. Study Methodology

4.1.1. Stakeholder consultation Establishing Project Core Team: This included setting up a Project Execution Unit (PEU) comprising of representatives from MoPR, NIC and the consulting firms. 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. PEU was also responsible for the co-ordination of the designated field teams for each of the states/UTs undertaking the INS Study. The PEU 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 attended by senior officials from various stakeholder line ministries. The group of 12 consultants was formed to conduct this study over a period of 2 weeks. The group was oriented by the PEU regarding the objectives of the study and the project. The PEU organized the group into three teams and assigned the CLMs to them. The teams 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 e-PRI project. The key CLMs covered were: 1. Ministry of Agriculture – Department of Agriculture 2. Ministry of Woman and Child Development - Department of Woman and Child

Development 3. Ministry of Rural Development-Department of Rural Development, Department of Land

Records, Department of Drinking Water Supply 4. Ministry of Tribal Affairs - Department of Tribal Affairs 5. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare - Department of Health & Family Welfare 6. Ministry of Social Justices & Empowerment - Department of Social Justice &

Empowerment 7. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports - Department of Sports



8. Ministry of Human Resource Development – Department of School Education & Literacy 9. Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation 10. Department of IT 11. Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Field study for identifying INS needs of Citizens: The field teams comprised of the SIO/DIOs of the State/District, the team of consultants and the domain experts drawn from NGOs, CBOs, 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.

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. Field teams gathered information on various schemes, centrally or state sponsored, that were being provided to the citizens, using questionnaires and discussions with various State line departments Rural Development Department, Tribal development department, Women and Child Welfare department etc.

Field teams also met support departments and agencies such as Department of Information Technology, Rural Development Agency, Postal Department, and SCA handling CSC etc, for the assessment of the existing technology infrastructure being implemented within the state/UTs. Field team observed and examined various artifacts such as the department annual report, citizen charters, status reports for the projects under implementation, accounting and monitoring reports etc., to support the captured information and discussions. Field team spent approximately two weeks at the state level to collect required information for the study.

After gathering the relevant information at the State level, field team moved to District level to continue with a similar exercise of collection of the information on the existing schemes and services and their delivery modes to the beneficiaries. Key officials met in the district administration include the District Collector, the District Magistrate, Additional Collector (in charge of development), CEO Zila Panchayat, DDO, PD-DRDA, and various committee formed under the State Panchayati Raj Act. Field team, wherever possible, also attended the committee meetings to understand the ground work being undertaken by the committees. Field team spent about two weeks at the district level to collect the required information for the study.

At the Block Panchayat and Village Panchayat level the field teams, apart from interacting with the government officials, also interacted with the villagers by organizing a gram Sabha and / or discussions with focused groups. The team attended a minimum of one Gram Sabha and met



relevant stakeholders to understand their needs of new services and the actual implementation of various schemes at the ground level. The team also met the common villagers to ascertain the wish list-services at the Gram level. The wish-list services thus obtained was translated into new services that can be offered through PRIs. Further a detailed understanding of the existing technology and related infrastructure such as buildings, electricity availability, network connectivity etc. at each level was also undertaken.

4.1.2. Identification of interviewee groups Identification of interviewee groups, data gathering templates like questionnaires etc was machinated by the PEU. The field teams customized and prepared comprehensive list of interviewees based on discussions with state level stakeholders including state and district/block administration. The list included the following key people: ► Panchayat officials and support staff - District Administration officers (District Magistrate,

Asst. District Magistrate), 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, Employment officer, Animal Husbandry in-charge, Representatives of village co-operative society or leaders of self-help groups etc.

► Postal Department - A level of interaction with the Postal Department officials for the services being rendered by the department

► Village Organizations - Wherever applicable and possible the field teams also interacted with the Village Organizations (VOs), including voluntary organizations, to obtain greater clarity on the information and services needs of the rural citizens.

► Specific focus groups -Additional discussions were conducted with specific focus groups such as farmers, teachers, youth, women, rural health officer, SC/ST families & minorities

► Villagers – Interaction with Identified villagers, through ‘Participatory Rural Assessment’ techniques (PRA) facilitated by the Panchayat members.

4.2. Data gathering tools

4.2.1. Interview questionnaires Exhaustive templates were formulated by the PEU team based on the project scope and the information required. These templates were then circulated to the field teams. All the relevant information based on the objective of the template was captured by the field teams based on their interactions with the identified stakeholders. Field teams observed and examined various artifacts at various levels to support the information captured during the INS Study.



4.2.2. Data capturing templates A data capturing template was prepared for capturing the existing ICT infrastructure available

at the State for the PRIs.

4.3. Services identification methodology To study the Information and Services needs of other government agencies/ line departments,

the study team conducted several one-to-one interviews at the State, Zila, Taluka and Gram

Panchayat level. In order to assess the information and services needs of citizens, the team

conducted following activities:

► Interaction with District and Taluka President, officials and supporting functionaries (such

as DEE, BHO, Talati, Gram Sevak, ASHA and CDHO etc.) to identify how their service

delivery is affected due to availability or non-availability of various types of information.

► Attended a Grama Sabha in the district of Dahod and two at Banaskantha and interacted

with the villagers to identify the services availed by them. The activity was undertaken in

order to approximate the level of current service delivery and identify new citizen service

needs.

The inputs thus gathered have been utilized to identify services to be rendered to the citizens.



5. Status of Panchayati Raj

Objective

This section aims to discuss in detail the panchayati raj setup in Gujarat. Information

concerning the organization structure, fund and functionaries, devolution of power provided

etc. have been collected and analyzed in the following section. The devolution of funds,

functions and functionaries at all the tier of PRIs is also studied and presented here.

Planning, implementation, monitoring and accounting roles each tier has along with various

committees formed to execute and review various schemes is discussed in depth.

Gujarat is one of the pioneer states in implementing the Panchayati Raj. The State constituted

the Panchayati Act in 1961 and implemented it from April 1963 onwards. Pursuant to the 73rd

amendments, Gujarat Panchayat Act 1963 was replaced by Gujarat Panchayat Act 1993 and

several activities were decentralized by the State Government.

After the ratification of Panchayati Act, 1993, the State follows a 3- tier structure which

comprises of Zila Panchayat (ZP), Taluka Panchayat (TP) and Gram Panchayat (GP).

All levels of PRIs are headed by the President who is selected from the elected members of

the district panchayat. The elected members of the DP and BP are elected by the qualified

voters of the district and at GP level, the Sarpanch (President) is elected directly by the



villagers. The officers beneath the president are recruited by the State Government at DP and

BP level. At GP level, there is a direct selection of officers from the village with reference from

either villagers or from Sarpanch.

The State Election Commission and State Election Commissioner are responsible for

conducting the elections in the State. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are used to ensure

fair and transparent elections in the State. There is an annual provision for the purchase of

EVMs in the state budget. Rs 14 crore has been allocated to Gujarat Informatics Limited– a

state government organization for the same. Elections in the 3-Tiers of Panchayat under the

Gujarat Panchayats Act, 1961 are conducted in a span of every 5 years

Some of the salient features of Panchayati raj in Gujarat are listed below:

► Various Powers such as powers to grant N.A., Selection of Development works from FC

grant etc. are given to Panchayats

► Powers of collecting taxes are given to Panchayats

► Powers of appointment, transfer, promotion, punishment, retirement benefit etc. of all

Class-III and Class-IV employees are given to Panchayats.

► Pre consultation of State Panchayat Council made mandatory in the cases of withdrawal

of administrative / financial power from PRIs

► Provisions of PESA Act incorporated in Gujarat Panchayat Act. 1993.

► All District Panchayat President have been given protocol status of Minister of State

► District Panchayats have various committees

► Village Panchayats are empowered to carryout Civil Work up to Rs.3.75 lakhs

Being one of the pioneering States in implementing the Panchayati Raj, the State has taken

significant steps in its execution. Major steps undertaken are mentioned below:

► State Panchayat Council: Under the provisions made in Section 266 (1) of Gujarat

Panchayat Act, 1993, State Panchayat Council was constituted under the chairmanship of

Minister of Panchayat. The prerequisites finalised by the Act for the Panchayat Council was

to advise Government regarding General issues, Training, Re-Consideration & Co-ordination

in administration, suggesting measures to resolve intricacies in administrations and other

matter related to administration of PRIs if sought by the Government.

► Gujarat Panchayat Services Selection Board: The board was constituted in the year 1973

on the line of sub-ordinate selection board of Government of India. The board is headed by

the Chairman and the Secretary of the board is a Senior GAS Class 1 officer (Addl.

Collector). The main function of the board are:



o All Class-III / Class-IV cadres recruitment for three tier Panchayat

o Board approved execution of penalty to any Class-III /Class –IV employee of PRIs

► Training Institutes: State Government has

started several training institutes for PRIs at

Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Mehsana,

Navsari and Gandhinagar. In the training

programs, NGOs were also involved for

providing the trainings at the taluka level. Under

this program every year 15% to 20% of PRIs

were covered.

The State follows a 3- Tier arrangement which

includes, Zilla Panchayat (District Panchayat), Block

Panchayat (Taluka Panchayat) and Gram Panchayat.

The 3 levels consists of over 114,241 members which

includes 831, 4201 and 109209 members at District, Taluka and Gram Panchayats respectively.

The bifurcations in the members of GP are mentioned below in Table No. 5.1 and 5.2

The main functions of the 3- levels are summarized below:

► Zilla Panchayat: Apex local body headed by the President, Zilla Panchayat

o Control over activities of district panchayat, taluka panchayat and gram panchayat and

to provide assistance

Table No. 5.1 Details of Sarpanch in Gujarat

Village Panchayat Sarpanch SC ST OBC General

Total 13693 967 2820 1392 8514

Female 4606 322 676 464 3144

Table No. 5.2 Details of Village Panchayat Members in Gujarat

Village Panchayat Members SC ST OBC General

Total 109209 7615 21245 10291 70058

Female 41398 3298 5763 5344 26993

3- Tiers of Panchayati Raj in Gujarat

*Source: State Panchayat Department

*Source: State Panchayat Department



o Management and control on activities

o Implementation of activities of Panchayat Department at district level

► Block Panchayat: Apex local body headed by the President, Block Panchayat

o Provide health and hygiene services in talukas

o Control on epidemics

o Construction and maintenance of village roads

o Establish and manage primary schools

o Agricultural improvements and planning at taluka level

o Women welfare, development on youth activities etc. and assistance

o Help in natural & manmade disasters like flood and fire accidents etc.

► Gram Panchayat: Apex local body headed by the Sarpanch

o Planning of rural development, agricultural improvements and their reforms

o Drinking water facilities for domestic use and for animals

o Scavenging of roads in the villages

o Maintenance of govt. properties

o Lighting arrangement in villages

o Spread of education including primary education in villages

o Supervision on crops in the outskirt of village

After implementing panchayati raj and devolution of various functions, efforts were made to

establish panchayati raj as an important means for rural development and their empowerment in

the state of Gujarat

5.1. Vision of State PR Department With a vision to empower people through popular participation towards peace, prosperity and

sustainable development in rural Gujarat, Government of Gujarat has stated the Golden Goals for

the department by 2010. The vision of the State PR department is mentioned below:

► The department envisages converting all Gram Panchayat into Gram Sachivalaya.

Government would provide all physical implements to the Gram Panchayat for the decision

making. This would further lead to enabling the GP’s to resolve the issues on behalf of

Government

► All Gram Panchayat would be connected with the Internet and video conferencing. The

department also foresees to start English and computer classes through internet and video

conferencing



► Imparting training facilities to the staffs and members of gram panchayat/ taluka panchayat/ district panchayat, the Government envisages to establish one training centre

at all district head quarters and an apex rural training centre with modern facilities at state

level

► With a vision to make villages a model village, Government would provide 100% toilets,

proper scavenging and mechanical scavenging by 2010. Necessary amendments would also

be made in the policy and rules respectively

5.2. Panchayati Raj Organization Structure The Panchayat Gram Rural & Housing Development Department is working for the planning and

implementation of the schemes (falling under Panchayati Raj) christened by the Central

Government and the State Government respectively. The State PR Department headed by the

Principal Secretary is working for policy drafting and for the overall monitoring of the processes.

The Development Commissionerate office works along with other officers such as Dy.

Development commissioner (Training, Administration and Planning etc.), Chitins and Account

Officers for the smoother execution of the policies that are made by the Department. Under the 3-

tiers of Panchayat, i.e. District, Block and Gram, various committees are formulated at each level

in order to plan, execute and monitor all the development works in a collaborative and democratic

manner.

5.2.1. State PR Department Panchayat Gram Rural & Housing Development Department: The main function of the

Panchayat Gram Rural and Housing Department is to plan and formulate policies for

implementation of various developmental work and schemes in the state. Officers of several line

departments such as Housing Development, Revenue and Budget etc. are the members of the

committee formed under this department. The hierarchy of the department is mentioned below:



Figure 2: State PR Department Structure

Principal Secretary

Additional Secretary (Service)

Additional Secretary (Housing Development)

Deputy Secretary (Investigation)

Deputy Secretary (Budget)

Deputy Secretary (Revenue)

Under Secretary (Service)

Under Secretary (Housing Development)

Under Secretary (Investigation)

Under Secretary (Budget)

Under Secretary (Revenue)

Principal Secretary

Additional Secretary (Service)

Additional Secretary (Housing Development)

Deputy Secretary (Investigation)

Deputy Secretary (Budget)

Deputy Secretary (Revenue)

Under Secretary (Service)

Under Secretary (Housing Development)

Under Secretary (Investigation)

Under Secretary (Budget)

Under Secretary (Revenue)

Development Commissionerate: Under the chairmanship of Development Commissioner (DC),

the office works on the execution of the policies prepared at the Panchayat Gram Rural & Housing

Development Department in a streamlined manner. Officers from Training, Planning, and

Revenue Investigation etc. department form committees for the execution and monitoring of the

ongoing and proposed schemes. The organizational structure of Development Commissionerate

office is mentioned below: Figure 3: Development Commissioner Office

Development Commissioner (D.C.)

Addn. Development Commissioner (A.D.C.)

Dy. D.C. (Training) Dy. D.C. (Admin) Asst. D.C. (General

Programmer)Dy. Director(Planning)

Chief Account Officer

Chitins(Investigation)

Asst. D.C. (Panchayat)

Account Officer & Special Auditor

Sarvodaya

Chitins(Revenue)

Chitins(Panchayat)

Chitins(General Registry)

Chitins(Investigation Programme)

Account Officer

Development Commissioner (D.C.)

Addn. Development Commissioner (A.D.C.)

Dy. D.C. (Training) Dy. D.C. (Admin) Asst. D.C. (General

Programmer)Dy. Director(Planning)

Chief Account Officer

Chitins(Investigation)

Asst. D.C. (Panchayat)

Account Officer & Special Auditor

Sarvodaya

Chitins(Revenue)

Chitins(Panchayat)

Chitins(General Registry)

Chitins(Investigation Programme)

Account Officer



5.2.2. Panchayati Raj Institutions District Dahod: ► Zila Panchayat (ZP)

Under the 3 tiers of Panchayat,

the Zila Panchayat is headed

by the President and is assisted

by the District Development

Officer (D.D.O.). The D.D.O.

posted under the President is

the Ex-official Secretary in the

ZP. The DP should have such

other officers such as Agriculture, Rural Development, Health and Minor Irrigation etc. assisting to

the D.D.O. for the planning, execution and monitoring of several schemes. Beside these there are

many other officers working at the ZP level which includes, Vice President- Zilla Panchayat,

DRDA, Chairman’s of all Committees and elected members of. The organizational structure of ZP

is shown below: Figure 4: Zilla Panchayat-Dahod

D.P.E.O

President (Zilla Panchayat)

DAO

Dy. D.D.O. (Revenue)

Dy. D.D.O. (Development)

C.D.H.O.

District Account Officer

DDO

D.S.O. (Statistics)

Ex. EngineerIrrigation

Ex. Engineer R&B

Assistant District Registrar

Co-operative

Program Officer (ICDS)

Dist. Ayurved Officer

Vice President (Jila Panchayat)

Chairman-Committees

Candidates (Elected Members)

District Social Welfare Officer

Dy Director (Animal

Husbandry)

DRDA

Director-DRDAChairman-DDO

ZILLA PANCHAYAT

Dy. D.D.O(Establishment)

Dy. D.D.O(Panchayat)

D.P.E.O

President (Zilla Panchayat)

DAO

Dy. D.D.O. (Revenue)

Dy. D.D.O. (Development)

C.D.H.O.

District Account Officer

DDO

D.S.O. (Statistics)

Ex. EngineerIrrigation

Ex. Engineer R&B

Assistant District Registrar

Co-operative

Program Officer (ICDS)

Dist. Ayurved Officer

Vice President (Jila Panchayat)

Chairman-Committees

Candidates (Elected Members)


Dy Director (Animal

Husbandry)

DRDA

Director-DRDAChairman-DDO

ZILLA PANCHAYAT

Dy. D.D.O(Establishment)

Dy. D.D.O(Panchayat)



As an organization, the Zila Panchayat is also characterized by several standing committees and

the functionaries transferred to it. This is shown in the diagram below

Figure 5: Committees at Zilla Panchayat

At the Zila level, the key administrative positions are Zila President, all elected members, DDO,

Director- DRDA and CDHO etc. The key role of the district level committees is to plan, implement

and monitor the various developmental programs running in the entire district.



► Block Panchayat (BP) or Taluka Panchayat (TP) The Taluka Panchayat (TP) is headed by

the President who is the elected member of taluka. The Taluka Development Officer (T.D.O.)

is appointed from state and is the ex- official Secretary of the Panchayat at taluka level. The

TP comprises of other officers from the Agriculture, R&B, Accounts and Tribal etc. assisting

the T.D.O. for the implementing the functions. The organizational hierarchy of the TP is

mentioned below:

Figure 6:TP Structure-Dahod

TDO

Ext. officer (Education)

Addn. Assistant Engineer (R&B)

Ext. officer (Agriculture)

Taluka Panchayat Officer

Circle inspector

Ext. officer (Social

Welfare)

Ext. officer (Tribal)

Dy. Accountant (IRD)

Dy. Accountant

Ext. Officer (IRO)

Chairman-Taluka Committee

President (Taluka Panchayat)

TALUKA PANCHAYAT

Assistant TDO

IRDA-Director

Statistical assistant

AAE R&B

CDPO

Veterinary officer

Block Health officer

Dy. Exe. Engineer (R&B)

Dy. Exe. Engineer (Irrigation)

TDO

Ext. officer (Education)

Addn. Assistant Engineer (R&B)

Ext. officer (Agriculture)

Taluka Panchayat Officer

Circle inspector

Ext. officer (Social

Welfare)

Ext. officer (Tribal)

Dy. Accountant (IRD)

Dy. Accountant

Ext. Officer (IRO)

Chairman-Taluka Committee

President (Taluka Panchayat)

TALUKA PANCHAYAT

Assistant TDO

IRDA-Director

Statistical assistant

AAE R&B

CDPO

Veterinary officer

Block Health officer

Dy. Exe. Engineer (R&B)

Dy. Exe. Engineer (Irrigation)

The other officers assisting the Taluka Panchayat for the development programs are CDPO,

Veterinary officer, Block Health Officer and Dy. Exe. Engineer (R&B and Irrigation) who don’t



report to the TDO; however report to their respective authorities in the district, who in turn report to

the DDO. The standing committees and transferred functionaries at the Taluka Panchayat level

are detailed in the diagram below:

Figure 7: Committees at Taluka Level

The committees are headed by the President of Taluka Panchayat and he is also the chairman of

several committees. Beside President, the other officers are TDO and elected members. These

committees play a crucial role in the planning, implementing and monitoring the progress of works

at taluka level.



► Gram Panchayat (GP)

At the bottom level of Panchayati Raj, is Gram Panchayat which is directly linked with the

villagers. As per the guidelines, Sarpanch is the President followed by Talati. As per the

Panchayati Act, the Talati cum Mantri (TCM) is the secretary of the Gram Panchayat. The Talati is

responsible for execution of works in the village. Under the Panchayati Act, Gram Panchayat also

consists of Gram Sevak’s who are responsible for execution of development and agricultural

works. VCE’s and Panchayat Sahayak’s are available for assisting the Talati. Some other

officers who assist Talati in the development works are Primary teachers, Multi- purpose Workers

and Live Stock Inspector etc. Beside this, there are 20 other elected members at the Gram

Panchayat along with the Sarpanch for the monitoring and capacity estimation at the village level.

At the Gram level, the standing committees are chaired by the Sarpanch who is the main

administrative officer. The committees and their functionaries are shown below:

Other officers involved in the committees are, Elected members of Gram Panchayat, ASHA, ANM

and Anganwadi workers etc.

Figure 8: Structure-Gram Panchayat



Figure 9: Gram Panchayat Committees



District Banaskantha: ► Zila Panchayat (ZP)

In Banaskantha, the Zila Panchayat

is headed by the President and is

assisted by the District Development

Officer (D.D.O.). The D.D.O. posted

under the President is the Ex-official

Secretary in the ZP. The ZP has

other officers such as Agriculture,

Rural Development, Health and

Minor Irrigation etc. assisting the

D.D.O. in planning, execution and monitoring of several schemes. Other officials working at the

ZP level include, Vice President- Zilla Panchayat, DRDA, Chairman’s of all Committees and

elected members of ZP. The organizational structure of ZP is shown below:

Figure 10: ZP structure-Banaskantha



There are several standing committees at the Zilla level for planning, reviewing and monitoring the

developmental work. Details of the committees are shown below:

Figure 11: Committees ZP-Banaskantha

Key administrative positions at the Zilla level are Zilla President, elected members, DDO, Dy.

DDO, Director- DRDA and DPEO etc. The key roles of the district level committees are to plan,

implement and monitor the various developmental programs running in the entire district.



► Block Panchayat (BP) or Taluka Panchayat (TP) Taluka Panchayat (TP) is headed by the

elected member (President) of taluka. The Taluka Development Officer (T.D.O.) is appointed

from state and is the ex- official Secretary of the Panchayat at taluka level. Other officers at

Taluka level from the Agriculture, R&B; Accounts and Tribal etc. for assist the T.D.O. for a

smooth implementation of development programs. The organizational hierarchy of the TP is

mentioned below:

Figure 12: TP Structure: Banaskantha



The Standing committees at the Taluka level are depicted below:

Figure 13: Committees TP-Banaskantha

At the taluka level, there are General Body, Executive Committee and Committee for Social

Justice existing for the planning, executing and reviewing the development works going at the

taluka level. The administrative officers in the committees comprises of President, TDO and

elected members.

► Gram Panchayat (GP) The last tier of Panchayati Raj institutions, Gram Panchayat, is directly

linked with the villagers. The Panchayat is headed by the Sarpanch (President) followed by

Talati and Dy. Sarpanch. The structure also consists of several members of elected body who

in turns report to the Dy. Sarpanch. As per the Panchayati Act, the Talati cum Mantri (TCM) is

the secretary of the Gram Panchayat. The Talati is responsible for execution of works in the

village. Gram Panchayat also consists of Gram Sevak’s who are responsible for the

execution of development and agricultural works.



VCE’s and Panchayat Sahayak are available for assisting the Talati. Some of the other

officers assisting Talati in the development works are Primary teachers, Multi- purpose

Workers and Live Stock Inspector etc. The Standing committees at the Gram level are shown below:

Figure 15: Committees GP-Banaskantha

Figure 14: Structure GP-Banaskantha



The administrative officers in the committees are mainly the elected officers from the villages. The

same includes Sarpanch, Talati and elected members from the society.

The committees at the Zilla, Taluka and Gram level are as mandated. Further committees apart

from the mandated can be formed for specific purposes by passing a resolution. At the gram level

the Gram Panchayat has the power to resolute committees as required; this is a splendid

example of de-centralization of powers that enable self-sufficiency of the grass-root level.

5.3. Devolution Status Gujarat has decentralized developmental administrative machinery in the form of its panchayati raj

institution, functional since 1963. Under the Panchayat Act 1993, which came into existence after

the 73rd amendments in the Indian Constitution, additional powers were provided to the PRIs in

the State and activities such as Agriculture including Agriculture Extension, Irrigation, Animal

Husbandry, Rural Housing and Drinking Water - Water Distribution etc. were transferred.

During the course of study the team observed that, Gujarat has taken significant steps in the process of implementation of Panchayati Raj in the state. Gujarat Panchayat Department

has taken significant initiatives and has prepared a job chart for all the officials at different levels of

the PRIs. The State PR Department has also taken initiatives for e- governance in order to

streamline processes, which would be elaborated in latter sections of the report.

5.3.1. Funds, Functions, Functionaries Under the provisions of section 175 of Gujarat Panchayat Act 1993, the functions, functionaries,

and funds were devolved in the Panchayati Raj Institutions. Panchayat Act of Gujarat came into

effect on April 15, 1994 and amendments were made in 1999, 2000 and 2004 respectively. During

the process of decentralization, an exercise of activity mapping of 29 subjects in consultation with

the offices of the District Panchayat at State level was carried out the Development

commissioner’s office. State has issued the government orders for devolution of funds, functions

and functionaries for 14 fully devolved functions and 5 are partially devolved. The details of fully,

partially and un-devolved functions are mentioned below in Table No. 5.3.1.1

Table No. 5.3.1.1 Sl. No. Functions Status 1 Agriculture including agriculture extensions Devolved 2 Minor Irrigation Devolved 3 Animal Husbandry Devolved 4 Rural Housing Devolved

5 Drinking Water- Water Distribution Schemes at the village level Devolved



Table No. 5.3.1.1 Sl. No. Functions Status 6 Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, water

ways and other means of communication Devolved

7 Poverty alleviation programmes at village level Devolved

8 Fuel (Energy) and Fodder Devolved 9 Minor forest products Devolved 10 Markets and Fairs Devolved

11 Health and sanitation including PHCs and Dispensaries Devolved

12 Family Welfare Devolved 13 Women and child development Devolved

14 Welfare of the weaker sections and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Devolved

15 Primary and Secondary education Partially Devolved 16 Adult and non-formal education Partially Devolved 17 Cultural activities Partially Devolved

18 Social welfare including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded Partially Devolved

19 Maintenance of community assets Partially Devolved

20 Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation Un-devolved

21 Fisheries Un-devolved 22 Social forestry and farm forestry Un-devolved 23 Small scale industries Un-devolved 24 Khadi, village and cottage industries Un-devolved

25 Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity Un-devolved

26 Non-conventional sources of energy Un-devolved 27 Technical training and vocational education Un-devolved 28 Libraries Un-devolved 29 Public distribution system Un-devolved



5.3.1.1. Funds To ensure effective implementation of schemes and services, grants are provided to the

departments

either by the

Central

Government or

through the State

Government. For

at state such as

Gujarat, where

14 functions are

devolved under

PRIs, fund flow

depends upon

the type of

schemes and

services provided. The categories of funds are shown below:

Categorization of Panchayat Funds Primarily there are three sources of funds for Panchayat from Central and State Government. The

allotted funds are used in planned expenditures which are related to these grants. The 3 sources

of funds, i.e. Government Grant, Own Sources and Scheme Grants are used for the several

purposes such as, Salary payments, carrying out various maintenance works and covering gaps

for the development fundings etc.

The District Planning Board also receives funds for State sponsored schemes and a single center

sponsored scheme. The funds received by the DPB are provisional funds used for the

developmental works in the respective districts. Under the Central Government funding, DPB

receives funds for the Border Area Development Fund (BADF). Under the process of allocation of

funds, the State Government has allocated amount to the tune of INR 5239.93 crore for 2008-09

in comparison to the last year’s allocation of INR 4328.54 crore. The department wise allocation of

funds is mentioned below in Table No. 5.3.1.2

Table No. 5.3.1.2 Statement showing details of Grant-in-aid provision (in Rs Crore)

Name of Department Total Panchayat (2007-08)

Total Panchayat (2008-09)

Agriculture & Cop-operation Department 167.6614 502.2799 Education Department 2305.691 2597.2915

Figure 16: Sources of Panchayat Funds



Table No. 5.3.1.2 Statement showing details of Grant-in-aid provision (in Rs Crore)

Name of Department Total Panchayat (2007-08)

Total Panchayat (2008-09)

Finance Department 0.2452 0 General Administration Department 2.1275 2.6179 Health & Family Welfare Department 305.1948 276.2398 Industry & Mines Department 17.825 0 Narmada, Water Res.& Water Supply Department 71.191 103.8886 Panchayat, Rural Housing & Rural Development 591.5803 672.8837 Revenue Department 50.442 44.379 Roads & Building Department 420.315 632.8226 Social Justice & Empowered Department(S.C.P.) 50.5628 114.982 Social Justice & Empowered Department(TRIBAL) 233.996 163.6801 Sports, Youth & Cultural Activities Department 0.8305 0.841 Women & Child Development Department 110.884 128.0266 Social Justice & Empowered Department(S.W.D.) 0 0.005

Source: Gujarat State PR Department

Taxes collected There are 8 major tax collected by the Panchayat. The district divides these 8 taxes under 3 major

categories namely, land revenue, education cess and Panchayat Tax is provided in Table 5.3.1.3

Provided below is a snapshot of taxes collect by the Panchayat

Table No. 5.3.1.3: Taxes Collected by the Panchayat

Sr. No. Category Types of Tax Collection Department of Deposit 1 Land Revenue Land revenue taxes Revenue 2 Education Cess Education cess Education

House Tax GP Swabhandur General Water Tax GP Swabhandur Special Water Tax GP Swabhandur Light Tax GP Swabhandur

3 Panchayat Tax

Safai Vera (Sanitation tax) GP Swabhandur

Tax collection is an important activity of the Panchayat. It is the source of “own fund” or

“Swabhandur” for the Panchayats. There has been a continuous need established by the state

and district Panchayat to collect adequate and appropriate taxes from the citizen at Gram level. It

was observed that though the Gram Panchayat have the power to pass resolutions in the Gram

Sabha to carry out small works and extend services in the village, were unable because of lack of

funds. Increase in tax collection would mean:

► Increase in self-sufficiency of the gram Panchayat

► Decreased dependence on funds from other sources

* Source: District Panchayat (Dahod Banaskantha)



► Small works/services that are required on an urgent basis can be easily Implemented by

passing a resolution in the Gram Sabha

District Dahod

At Panchayati raj, taxes were collected primarily from two departments which include Land

revenue and Education cess. Other taxes such as, Stamp duty and water tax etc. are collected at

the Collectorate office of the district and was then transferred to the State revenue department.

Table No. 5.3.1.4: Collection of Taxes in Dahod till June 2009

Department (1)

Last year pending (2)

Current month (3)

Cumulative amount (2+3)

Total till last month (5)

Current month collection (6)

Total collection (5+6)

Balance amount (4-7)

Land Revenue 6402875 - 6402875 1028906 143124 1172030 5230845

Education cess 1983688 - 1983688 152178 16570 168748 1814940

Source: District Panchayat, Dahod

► For the last Financial Year 2008-09, the total tax collected by land revenue department was INR

11, 72,030 which was against the total demand amounting INR 64, 02,875.

► Similarly for the education department, the taxes collected were INR 168,748 against the

demand of INR 19, 83,688.

► The percentage total of land revenue and educational cess was 18.30% and 8.51% respectively.

Till the month of June 2009, revenues to the tune of more than INR 23, 55,000 were collected.

The pending house taxes for the financial years (2008-09 and 2009-10) was INR 1,60,59,841

and the total amount collected for the first quarter of current FY 2009-10 was to the tune of INR

17,75,696.

Table No. 5.3.1.5: Gram Panchayat-Collection of Taxes (June 2009) (in Rs)

Tax Type Demand Collection (Current month)

Total Collection

Pending amount % collection

House tax 16059841 898675 1775696 14284145 11.06 Street Light tax 766009 32157 81371 684638 10.62 Sanitation 2772075 111253 202808 2569267 7.32 Others 1519067 100320 295613 1223454 19.46

Source: District Panchayat, Dahod

Figure 17: Tax Collection (in INR)



1775696

81371202808

295613

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

1800000

2000000

House tax Street Light tax Sanitation Others

The collection demand for

sanitation tax for the FY- 2008-09

and 2009-10 was amounting to

INR 27, 72,075 and collected

amount for the 1st Quarter of FY

2009-10 was INR 2, 02,808.

The study team has analyzed that

the collection of taxes from the

villagers were not as per the

requirement. The pending

collections for house tax for FY 2008-09 was INR 42, 56,733 and for the current year was INR 1,

18, 03,108, but the collection for the 1st quarter of FY 2009-10 is only 11.06%. Similarly for the

street lights, the percentage collection for the 1st quarter was 10.62 but the total collection was

INR 81,371 against the total demand of INR 7, 66,009.

The minimum level taxation that is being followed in the state is Rs. 1.12/ hectare of land.

District Banaskantha Detailed below in table 5.3.1.6 is the Tax collection for Banaskantha district, for the year 2008-09

under each category

Source: District Panchayat, Banaskantha

Land Revenue and Education cess collection: in Rs. Lakhs (2009)

District Total Demand Total Recovery Pending Recovery % Education Cess 22.5 19.03 3.47 84.58

Land Revenue 45.01 38.04 6.97 84.51 Source: District Panchayat, Banaskantha

Table No. 5.3.1.6: Tax collection-Banaskantha in Rs. Lakhs (2008-09)

No. Name of Tax Total Demand

Total Recovery

O/s Recovery %

1 House 531.19 341.66 189.53 64.32 2 General water 113.72 86.29 27.43 75.88 3 Special water 43.24 36.34 6.9 84.04 4 Light 45.81 36.99 8.82 80.75 5 Safai Vera (Sanitation) 72.51 45.31 27.2 62.49 6 Other taxes (including TP tax) 32.47 25.78 6.69 79.36



5.3.1.2. Functions After issuance of State orders for the devolution, 14 functions have been completely and 5

partially devolved. The study team met all the departments devolved under Panchayati Raj.

Devolved functions under the Panchayati Raj are mentioned below:

1. Agriculture including agriculture extension – Functionaries like DAO, Ext Officer, Gram

sewak are devolved till GP level. In terms of fund, fund from Panchayat flows through

District Agriculture Officer (DAO) and it goes till BP (Taluka Development Officer) for the

distribution to the beneficiaries.

2. Minor Irrigation – Functionaries like DEE, Circle Officer, Superintendent are devolved till

GP with activities mapped to them. For Minor Irrigation, Divisional Executive Engineer

(DEE) is the last tier of receiving the funds which are coming from Panchayat. From DEE

the funds flows to the Executive Engineer- Irrigation and then it is then distributed to the

beneficiary.

3. Animal husbandry – Dy Director-Animal Husbandry and live stock inspector posts are

devolved into panchayat with activated for them clearly mapped out. The fund is directly

provided to the Dy. Director- Animal Husbandry and it flows to the Veterinary officer at the

block.

4. Rural housing – IRD (Integrated Rural Development), which is a block level arm of

DRDA, is responsible for rural housing and development functions. It has clearly defined

functionaries with activities mapped out. Funds are received at the Taluka Development

Office (TDO) from DRDA- Panchayat and the same is distributed to the Talati and Gram

Sevak.

5. Drinking Water – Water distribution schemes at the Village level is taken care of by the

State Water Board. From the Water Board the fund flows to the Ex. Eng. - Drinking water

at the district level. He has the authority to distribute the received fund to the DEE at the

block level.

6. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, water ways and other means of communication –

For Rural Road and Building needs a department called R&B (Panchayat) is carved out

which has functionaries till block level, which takes care of all the roads, culverts and

bridges in rural areas of districts. The incoming funds from Central Government reaches to

the Ex. Eng. – R&B through State Government and then the dissemination takes place at

DEE and Supervisor at block and gram level respectively.

7. Health and sanitation including PHCs & Dispensaries – Health function also has

functionaries like CDHO at district level, BHO at block level, Medical officer at gram level.



Apart from that ASHA, ANM, MPHW are also part of PRI to carry out health function at all

levels. Chief District Health Officer (CDHO) takes care of all the funds received. He

distributes the funds to the block health officer and it reaches to the beneficiaries through

PHC doctors, ASHA and Female Health Workers working at the gram level

8. Family Welfare – Family Welfare department works in the same fashion of Health and

Sanitation including PHCs and Dispensaries.

9. Women and Child Development – ICDS PO at district level and CDPO at block level and

Anganwadi worker at village level are the functionaries For Women and Child

Development department. The District Program Officer (DPO) receives the funds from the

Central and State Government and disseminates the same to the Child Development

Program Officer (CDPO) at block level and Supervisors and Anganwadi Workers at gram

level as per requirement.

10. Welfare of the weaker sections and in particular of the SC/ST – The weaker section

and especially the Scheduled Castes are under the supervision of District Social Welfare

Officer (DSWO). The functionary at the block level is called the block officer.

5.3.1.3. Functionaries

Under the provisions of section 175 of Gujarat Panchayat Act 1993, orders were issued in respect

of 14 functions, giving powers of seeking information and supervision to Panchayat over various

levels of officials. After interacting with various officials in the State, the study team found that,

District Agricultural Officers, Executive Engineers- Irrigations, DRDA- Director, CDHO and District

Program Officer etc. are functionaries devolved at district Panchayat level while Extension officer-

Agriculture, Veterinary officer, Block Health Officer and Child Development Program Officer, DEE,

Block Inspector, Dy. Executive Engineer- Irrigation and IRD-BDO are the functionaries devolved at

BP level. At GP level, Gram Sewaks, Supervisors, Talati, PHC doctors, School Teachers, ASHA

and Anganwadi workers are the functionaries. The lists of functionaries present are provided in

the table below:

Table No. 5.3.1.3.1 Functions and Functionaries at 3-tiers

Functions District Panchayat

Taluka Panchayat

Gram Panchayat

Agriculture including agriculture extension

District Agriculture Officer

Extension Officer - Agriculture

Gram Sevak

Minor Irrigation Ex Engineer Irrigation Dy Ex. Engineer Section Officer

Animal husbandry Dy. Director - Animal Husbandry

Veterinary Officer NA



Rural housing DRDA – Director IRD – Ext. Officer Talati, Gram Sevak, Ext Officer

Drinking Water – Water distribution schemes

Ex Engineer Drinking Water

DEE Section Officer

Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, water ways and other means of communication

Ex Engineer R&B DEE Section Officer

Poverty alleviation programme at village level

DDO, Director- DRDA, TSP- Project Administrator

TDO, IRD- Ext. Officers, Dy. Mamlatdar- TSP

Talati, Gram Sevak

Health and sanitation including PHCs and Dispensaries

CDHO Block Health Officer

PHC Doctor, ASHA, Female Health Worker

Family Welfare CDHO Block Health Officer

PHC Doctor, ASHA, Female Health Worker

Women and child development

District Program Officer

Child Development Program Officer

Section Officer, Anganwadi Worker

Welfare of the weaker sections and in particular of the SC/ST


Assistant Welfare Officer

NA

Schedule Tribe Development

Tribal Development Officer

Dy. Mamlatdar- TSP

NA

5.3.2. Status of Activity Mapping As stated earlier, out of 29 subjects mentioned in the 73rd constitutional amendment, 14 subjects

have been fully devolved to the PRIs, 5 subjects have been devolved partially and remaining 10

are yet to be devolved.

In order to get a picture of the functions which have been devolved to the various stages of the

PRIs an exercise of Activity Mapping was undertaken by the Office of the Development

Commissioner in consultation with the offices of the District Panchayats. This gives an idea of the

state of affairs at present.

More crucial is the issue of the activity mapping of the functions partially devolved or yet to be

devolved to the PRIs. The Department of Panchayats, Rural Housing and Rural Development,

Government of Gujarat has taken initiatives in this context and has approached the Secretaries of

different line departments whose subjects have been mentioned in the 73rd constitutional

amendment and are yet to be devolved. In consultation with these secretaries; functions, funds



and functionaries to be transferred to the PRIs will be identified and the matter will be placed

before the cabinet for a policy level decision. The secretaries of the line departments are being

sensitized about the significance of the PRIs as local self-Governments and also about the

constitutional obligation of the state Government for according proper status with respect to all the

twenty nine subjects. (Detailed in Table 5.3.2.1)

Table No. 5.3.2.1 Status of Activity Mapping (ZP/BP/GP) Function Description Distribution of Activities

Subject District Panchayat Taluka Panchayat Village Panchayat

Agriculture including agriculture extension

(I) Overall supervision through the Agriculture Production, Cooperation and Irrigation Committee of the District Panchayat (DP). Supervision of agricultural related schemes, functions of seed preparation centres and schemes undertaken with the help of the District Development Fund. (ii) Providing training to the taluka and village level technical functionaries on modern methods of agriculture and irrigation. (Iii) Preparation of data base and information on major crop diseases and making arrangements for there prevention and control through dissemination of information and specific measures. (iv) Dissemination of information concerning research and outcome of agriculture research centres. (v) Organising farmers’ conferences at village level for awareness regarding scientific

(i) Preparation and implementation of extension programme through Gram Sevaks in charge of eight to ten villages. (ii) Preparation of jurisdiction wise annual agricultural production programme. (iii) Allocation of targets to the Gram Sevaks. Implementation of agricultural schemes, conferences, workshops and meetings at village level. (iv) Monitoring of agriculture inputs within the jurisdiction. (v) Conducting fortnightly training programmes and the meetings at the taluka level for getting the feed back from the Gram Sevaks and giving them guidance.

(i) Visit of Gram Sevak’s as per the programme to the villages based on the criteria of cropping pattern, irrigation facilities and number of villages. (ii) Providing specific guidance on scientific agriculture to the farmers. (iii) Conducting exhibitions on crop cutting experiments and maintaining records of inspections and results. (iv) Familiarizing the farmers with all new schemes. (v) Collection of soil samples and informing farmers about there results.




Subject District Panchayat Taluka Panchayat Village Panchayat agriculture. Preparation of agriculture action. Preparation of report on studies on agriculture, position of crops, climatic conditions and precipitation. Preparation of the annual plan of extension containing fortnightly training programmes of the extension wing.

Minor Irrigation

(i) Supervision of execution of all minor irrigation related projects and activities in the district in consultation with the Agriculture Production, Cooperation and Irrigation Committee. (ii) Technical sanction of all works up to the estimate of Rs. ten lakhs. Preparation of proposals for technical sanction for works exceeding Rs. twelve lakhs for consideration of Superintending Engineer, up to fifty lakhs Chief Engineer. Rupees fifty lakhs and above------authorities outside the jurisdiction of the District Panchayat and working with the State Government. To accord the administrative sanction through the irrigation committee and approving tenders and awarding contracts upto

(i) 100% Supervision of execution of all minor irrigation related projects and activities in the taluka. (ii) Technical sanction of all works up to the estimate of Rs. 2.5 lakhs. Preparation of proposals for technical sanction for works. (iii) Preparing proposals for approval by the executive committee of the taluka Panchayat for projects. For the approval for works exceeding Rs. 2.5 lakhs for the approval of the General Body of the taluka Panchayat




Subject District Panchayat Taluka Panchayat Village Panchayat the estimate of Rs. five lakhs. (iii) Preparing proposals for approval by the executive committee of the District Panchayat for projects with estimate from Rs. 5 to 15 lakhs. For the approval for works exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs for the approval of the General Body of the District Panchayat.

Animal Husbandry

Supervision and monitoring of all activities performed at taluka level. Monitoring of various schemes related to technical, administrative and financial control.

Functions of the office of the drawing and disbursing officer for all employees at and below the taluka level. (i) Administrative and financial functions (ii) Preparation of reports on sporadic cattle epidemics, preventive steps and control measures. (iii) Village level treatment of cattle, immunization and vaccination, artificial insemination and other implementation of schemes. Execution of immunization work. (iv) Organising cattle camps for the treatment of diseases of cattle, treatment of infertility, surgical operations etc. (v) Conducting cattle productivity camps and cattle breeding education camps.

(i) Assisting in village level treatment of cattle, immunization and vaccination, artificial insemination and other implementation of schemes. (ii) Assisting in organising cattle camps for the treatment of diseases of cattle, treatment of infertility, surgical operations etc. (iii) Assisting in conducting cattle productivity camps and cattle breeding education camps

Rural Housing (I) Supervision and monitoring of various

(i) Preparation of proposals for sanction

(i) Selection of beneficiaries.




Subject District Panchayat Taluka Panchayat Village Panchayat rural housing schemes implemented through the grant of Central as well as State Governments. (ii) Allocation of targets and funds to the talukas for rural housing. Laisioning with the officials in charge of the land for allotment of village plots. (iii) Selection and identification of NGOs for implementing rural housing schemes. (iv) Approval of housing grants to beneficiaries constructing houses on their own land and not on the land granted as free plots.

of village sites. (ii) Award of beneficiaries for housing schemes from the proposals received from the villages. (iii) Award of contract to NGOs/Village Panchayats for construction of rural houses. (iv) Payment to NGOs/Village Panchayats for the construction of rural houses. (v) Monitoring of implementation of houses executed by the NGOs. (vi) Maintenance of measurement books and award of the completion certificates.

(ii) Collection of applications from the BPL list and dispatch to the taluka level for final selection. (iii) Execution by Village Panchayats for construction of houses. (iv) Construction of houses under different schemes by Village Panchayats. (v) Construction of houses by beneficiaries themselves under different schemes.

Drinking Water and Water Distribution

(I) Sanitation of drinking water related schemes under the finance commission grant. (ii) Following up of drinking water projects related proposals in the district planning board.

(i) Recommendation of drinking water projects in the taluka planning committee (Outside the jurisdiction of Taluka Panchayat), yet chaired by Taluka Panchayat President. (ii) Encouragement of Village Panchayats (VPs) for contributing 25% of the project cost on drinking water for obtaining 75% grant of finance commission at village level. (iii) Maintenance and operation of drinking

(i) Assessment of requirement of drinking water facilities at village level. (ii) Ensuring collection of 25% of the project cost from villagers on drinking water for obtaining 75% grant of finance commission at village level. (iii) Assisting in maintenance of drinking water facilities at village level.




Subject District Panchayat Taluka Panchayat Village Panchayat water schemes executed by the GWSSB and handed over to the Village Panchayats.

Roads and Buildings

(I) Overall supervision of construction, maintenance and repairs of the assets in the jurisdiction of the District Panchayat. (ii) Preparation of proposals for construction of roads etc. for the construction of the State Government for obtaining sanction for new works and repairs. (iii) Processing of tenders and award of contract in consultation with roads and buildings committee of the District Panchayat. (iv) Accord of technical sanction up to the works of Rs. 5 lakhs by the roads and building committee. (v) Five to fifteen lakhs by the executive committee and fifteen lakhs and above by General Board.

(i) Execution, inspection and supervision of works of the above the value of Rs. one lakh through supervisory and technical staff under the control of the deputy executive engineer, execution, inspection and supervising of works. Below Rs. one lakh through technical and supervisory officials under the control of the additional assistant engineer. (ii) Maintenance of major measurement books and issue of completion certificates. (iii) Execution of all roads and buildings related works without tender upto the value of 2.5 lakhs.

Minor Forest Produce

(I) In all districts with forest coverage and falling under the scheduled areas, the distribution of amount received from the auction of minor forest produce to the village for developmental works. Coordinating with the Gujarat State

(i) Collection of MFPs by groups of collectors under the management of Gujarat State Forest Development Corporation.




Subject District Panchayat Taluka Panchayat Village Panchayat Forest Development Corporation with respect to collection of minor forest produces. Collection of MFPs and maintenance of accounts and payment to the people, who are collecting MFPs and settlement of administrative charges retained by the Corporation.(ii) Participation in the process of determining the upset price for the auction of Timru leaves (DDO is a member of the committee concerned).

Selection and execution of hariyali (Watershed Programme)

(i) Selection of beneficiaries and extension of subsidy and loan under SJGRY. (ii) Planning and implementation of schemes amounting to 20% of the funds under SGRY through Taluka Panchayat.

(i) Selection and announcement of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) in the Gram Sabhas. (ii) Identification of developmental works to be executed under various schemes.

Poverty alleviation

DDO as the chairperson of the DRD agency all supervision, execution of several centrally sponsored poverty alleviation schemes. DDO is the Chief Executive of the Jilla Panchayat but the DRDA is not a part of the Jilla Panchayat. The Jilla Panchayat is allocated 20% of the funds which are given to the District under the SGRY. The scheme’s

Taluka Panchayat is entrusted with the 50% of the funds allocated under the SYGRY and selects the works. Taluka Panchayat implements the SGRY and the Indira Awas.

The beneficiaries under the BPL are selected at the village level and there names were announced in the gram sabhas. All programmes are based on self-employment or wage employment and carried out at village level. The planning of 50% of the grant allocated under SGRY is approved at




Subject District Panchayat Taluka Panchayat Village Panchayat common assets are created in the District in rural areas as per the recommendation of the Jilla Panchayat in which wages are paid in the form of food grains 50% and cash 50%

the gram sabhas and implemented by the Village Panchayats.

Fairs and Markets

The Jilla Panchayats are authorized to utilize the grant received from the Government for organising fairs.

No significant activity

The village panchayat is authorized to collect fees for entertainment, cinema, video shows, cattle fair, land lease etc. These fees are part of the income of the village panchayat.

Health and sanitation including hospitals, PHCs and dispensaries

Supervision and coordination of various public health related activities including family welfare, re productivity and children health, prevention of water borne diseases, control of Tuberculosis and prevention of epidemics through district level officers.

Several primary health centres are located in the geographical jurisdiction of the Taluka Panchayat, though there is no formal control.

Village level public health activities are carried out and services are provided through the sub-centres with the help of male and female health workers.

Woman and child development

Programme Officer of the Integrated Child Development Scheme operates under the district level in coordination with the women and child development and youth activities committee of the Taluka Panchayat.

Supervision of the Anganwadi workers through Mukhiya Sevak and the child development project officer.

Delivery of services to children in the age group of 0 to 6, pregnant women and nursing mothers at Anganwadi through the Anganwadi workers.

Welfare of the Weaker sections including the

Supervision and coordination of various social welfare schemes by the social justice

Taluka social justice committee safeguards the interests of the socially and

Social justice committee at the village level protects the interests of the




Subject District Panchayat Taluka Panchayat Village Panchayat welfare of the Handicapped and Mentally retarded

committee at district level. (i) Sanction of proposals for grant, (ii) Scholarship to students belonging to socially and economically backward communities (iii) Free medical health and housing scheme etc.

economically backward people.

SEBC in villages.

Table No. 5.3.2.2 Activity Mapping at DP level (Funds, Functions and Functionaries)

Function devolved GO No. Dated Activity

mapping Funds Functionaries

Agriculture including agriculture extension Yes Yes Yes

Minor Irrigation Yes Yes Yes Animal husbandry Yes Yes Yes Rural housing Yes Yes Yes Drinking Water – Water distribution schemes Yes Yes Yes


Yes Yes Yes

Minor Forest Yes Yes Yes Selection and execution of hariyali Watershed Program Yes Yes Yes

Poverty alleviation program Yes Yes Yes Fairs and Market Yes Yes Yes Health and sanitation including PHCs and Dispensaries

Yes Yes Yes

Family Welfare Yes Yes Yes Women and child development Yes Yes Yes


Not available since, activity mapping was done before 73rd amendment

Yes Yes Yes



Table No. 5.3.2.3-Activity Mapping at BP level (Funds, Functions and Functionaries)

Function devolved GO No. Dated Activity mapping Funds Functionaries


Minor Irrigation Yes Yes Yes Animal husbandry Yes Yes Yes Rural housing Yes Yes Yes Drinking Water – Water distribution schemes Yes Yes Yes


Yes Yes Yes

Minor Forest No No No Selection and execution of hariyali Watershed Program Yes Yes Yes


Yes Yes Yes

Family Welfare Yes Yes Yes Women & child development Yes Yes Yes Welfare of the weaker sections and in particular of the SC/ST


Yes Yes Yes

Table No. 5.3.2.4 Activity Mapping at GP level (Funds, Functions and Functionaries)



Minor Irrigation No No No Animal husbandry Yes Yes Yes Rural housing Yes Yes Yes Drinking Water – Water distribution schemes Yes Yes Yes


Yes Yes Yes

Minor Forest Yes Yes Yes Selection and execution of hariyali Watershed Program Yes Yes Yes



Yes Yes Yes



Table No. 5.3.2.4 Activity Mapping at GP level (Funds, Functions and Functionaries)


Family Welfare Yes Yes Yes Women and child development Yes Yes Yes


Yes Yes Yes

5.4. PR Governance Gujarat has established a respectable place in governance of Panchayati Raj institutions. This is

reflected in the procedures and systems it has established for Planning, Monitoring and

Implementation. As mentioned in earlier, the State has devolved funds, functions and

functionaries to a very high degree which has led to strengthening of Panchayati Raj institutions

and a strong planning process with high degree of people’s participation. The 3 pillars of

Panchayati Raj in the State which includes, Zila Panchayat (District Panchayat), Block Panchayat

(Taluka Panchayat) and Gram Panchayat possess enhanced powers after the Panchayat Act

1993. Depending upon the schemes and services, powers are provided to plan, implement and

monitor the centrally and state running schemes and services at each level in the State. However

our study demonstrates that in some cases there is no/partial devolution to PRIs or lesser

involvement in the case of few schemes such as National Land Resource Management Program

(NLRMP), SC-OBC hostel and Grant to Voluntary Organizations (G to VO) schemes.

5.4.1. G2G Functional Areas As per the Panchayati Act, the powers devolved to the PRIs are annual planning of the schemes,

implementations and monitoring. The powers vary at DP/BP/GP as per schemes/services. For

instance, for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the District Panchayat is involved in

planning and implementing whereas monitoring activities are carried out at the State and Central

level; for Ashramshala scheme, (ZP) is involved in the preparing the annual plans for the scheme.

5.4.1.1. Planning Role of State PR Department

The State follows a bottom-up approach for the preparation of annual plans. Annual Panchayat

Reports are prepared by all Panchayats in Gujarat. These reports are submitted to the Taluka

Panchayat by the Gram Panchayat. The report is then processed for consolidation and then the

same is routed to the District Panchayat from Taluka Panchayat. The Development Commissioner



of the State processes the district Panchayats’ reports and prepares a consolidated State

Panchayat Annual Report.

Role of PRIs – District Wise

PRIs are involved in planning process of various schemes targeted to benefit the rural population.

Schemes related to rural development, education, health and family welfare, social welfare are

planned by line departments in consultation with the PRIs at various level. The district plan

comprises of the Line department plan and the five year plan. Panchayat plans are a part of the

District plan. Depending upon the schemes, the plans are prepared by DP/BP/GP based on its

service requirement. All the requests from GPs get consolidated at TP level. Then the same is

forwarded to DP level for their review and consolidation of plan at district level. Finally the district

plan is being sent to the State for their necessary approval. The committee which comprises of

several members from the devolved line departments under the chairmanship of Principal

Secretary is involved in the scrutinizing the plans received from the district and finalizing the

same.

District Planning Committee (DPC) District Planning Committee in Gujarat has just being formulated at each district to carry out the

comprehensive planning activity at district level. The district planning committee will carry out

planning activities of all centrally sponsored schemes like BRGF, RKVY etc. The planning of

schemes under the DRDA will also be initiated by the DPC. Out of 22 members of DPC, the main

constituents are President-DP, Collector and DDO. There are 18 elected members in the DPC of

which 16 members are elected from the District Panchayat and 2 from the Nagar Palika in the

ration of rural and urban population in the district. Chairman of the DPC is the in-charge minister

of the district. All MPs and MLA’s, line department officers and all members in DPB not a part of

DPC are permanent invitees to the DPC. Further, as the Constitution does not provide for

membership to Village and Block Panchayats, one representative each of these tiers is also

designated as permanent invitee. Being one of the key coordinators for the de-centralized

planning, the DPC performs following functions:

► Coordinating preparation of plans by Local Governments

► Constituting Technical Advisory Groups for vetting local government Plans

► Providing suggestions to Local Governments on district priorities.

► Approving plans of the Local Governments in the same manner as Planning Commission

approves the State plans

► Monitoring plan implementation



Snapshot of the DPC: Table No. 5.4.1.1 Details of Members

Particulars Number of Members

Member by Designation 04 Elected Members Member of ZP 16 Member of Nagar Palika 02 Total No. of Members 22

Source: District Planning Board Table No. 5.4.1.2 Designation and Role in the DPC

Designation Role Minister-in-charge District Chairman President (ZP) Vice Chairman Collector Co-Vice Chairman DDO Member Secretary MLAs and MPs (all) Invitee Members Line Department officers (all) Invitee Members Nagar Palika (2 members) Invitee Members

District Planning Board: Apart from DPC which is at the initiation stage, planning activity at district /Taluka level is also being carried out by District Planning Board. The DPB carries out de-centralization planning activity at the district level. DPB is a state constituted board which covers both rural and urban areas of the district. Taluka and village plans are included at the district level to arrive at a comprehensive plan by the DPB. The funds for the state schemes and BADF (Border area development fund) are provisioned for under the DPB. They prepare the district level plan involving the officials of the District Panchayats and the district heads of the line departments. The very précised functions of District Planning Board are mentioned below: ► Preparation of perspective plan, five-year plan and annual plans of the district

► To formulate various schemes, which are to be funded from the outlay under decentralized

district planning

► Evaluate district level schemes and removal of hindrances



Table No. 5.4.1.3 Details of designation and Role in DPB

Designation Role Minister-in-charge District Chairman President (ZP) Vice Chairman Collector Co-Vice Chairman DDO Member Secretary District Planning Officer Member Secretary District Statistical Officer Add. Member Secretary MPs and MLAs (all) Member Chairman Social Justice Member President Taluka Panchayat Member President Nagar Palika (all) Member Lead Bank official-Dena Bank Member Director DRDA Member Project-Adm-Tribal-Sub-Plan Member Line department officers(all) Invitee Members Gujarat Administrative Department officer Supervisory Officer

Source: District Planning Board

The District Planning Board is assisted by 2 committees which are mentioned below:

1. Executive Planning Committee: The Executive planning Committee is headed by the

Collector along with the District Panchayat President as a Co-Chairperson. The other

officers of EPC include D.D.O., District Planning Officer (D.P.O), and all the MLA’s of the

districts. The main function of the EPC is to prior scrutinize any proposal of funding which

is being sent to DPB. The scrutiny is done in order to ensure that the proposal is in the

lines of guidelines and proper State Government guidelines were followed. The EPC is

also responsible for monitoring the progress on the schemes, identifying the impediments

and their removal.

2. Taluka Panchayat Committee: The Taluka Planning Committee is chaired by the Taluka

Panchayat President and Prant Officer (Sub-Divisional Magistrate)/ Dy. District

Development Officer is the Vice-Chairperson. T.D.O. is the member secretary of Taluka

Planning Committee. All the MLA’s of Taluka, members of District Panchayat elected from

the Taluka, Chairman of Taluka Social Justice Committee, and Mamlatdar are the

members of TPC. The function of the Taluka Planning Committee is to prepare proposals.

The fund received by the DPB is provisional fund. The snapshot of the provisioning, proposed

work and proposed number of work for Palanpur for the year 2009-2010 is illustrated below:


National Informatics Centre Services Inc of 190

5.4.1.2. Monitoring & Implementation Role of State PR Department

The State PR Department plays a crucial role in implementation and monitoring of all

developmental activities schemes in the districts. The monitoring of smooth implementation of

the schemes is being done by DP/BP/GP officials. As a nodal department for the schemes, a

monthly progress report is sent to the department for the final monitoring of physical as well as

the financial progress. The Development Commissioner is responsible for monitoring and

implementation of all rural development related schemes at State level.

Role of PRI – District Wise

As recommended in Gujarat Panchayati Act, 1993, at the district level, there are 9 committees

which play a vital role in the smoother implementation of works and are responsible for the

progress of the schemes.

The roles of the district level committees are mentioned below:

1. Executive Committee: This is the higher level committee in the district which is involved

in scrutinizing the final annual plans and monitoring of works going on in the whole

district. The committee is also involved in the review of functioning of all the other

committees

2. General Body: Comprising of all elected members of DP and all Panchayat officials, the

committee helps in the Planning, Reviewing, Advising, Monitoring of programs and

activities at all DP level. General Body meeting is also used to raise questions by the

elected members.

3. 20 Point Program Implementing Committee: The committee is involved in the review

of 20 point programs which runs by Agriculture, Health, Animal and Integrated Child

Development Scheme (ICDS).

4. Agri Production, Cooperative and Irrigation Committee: For the approval of

preparation of Check Dams, Cooperative registration, guidelines reviews and for the

tender’s approval the committee plays a crucial role.

5. District Health Committee: The District Health Committee is responsible for the

implementation, quarterly review, monitoring and correction of the ongoing activity in the

district. The district Health Society along with Collector is involved in the planning for the

related schemes

6. District Social Justice Committee: The committee is responsible for the grievance

handling, atrocity resolution, and advisory role and monitoring of the progress of the

activities.



7. District Primary Education Committee: District Primary Education Committee is

involved in sanctioning of new school, maintenance and renovation of school building,

establishment review. The committee is also responsible for the monitoring and resolving

of issues

8. Women and Child Development: Role of Women and Child Development Committee

includes the implementation and monitoring of National Nutrition Program, activity review

of Anganwadi, health service for kids, pregnant women and feeding women nutrition and

anemic control program.

9. District Baandhkam Committee: Committee is involved in the tender invitation,

approval, work progress monitoring and consultation. The committee is also responsible

for the quarterly review of the activities and sanctioning of new works

The study team observed in district study that all the committees mentioned below are

functioning in districts as per guidelines. The committees are meeting regularly with active

participation of officials as well elected members. The committees monitor the progress of all the

schemes that are implemented by them. As mentioned earlier, in almost all the schemes the

PRIs are involved in the implementation and monitoring of the progress of the activities that are

carried on in the villages. The PRIs prepares a Monthly Progress Report (MPR) and send it to

the respective department for the review. For e.g. in schemes such as PMGSY, monitoring is

done at three levels. It includes

► District Level-Regularly

► State Level-Two Inspections per work

► Central level - Random basis

NREGA has a web based MIS system which is used for the data entry, planning, funding,

implementation and monitoring of scheme. There are Electronic Data Entry Points at Districts &

Blocks, where villages send the report to the block for digitization and reviewing.

5.4.1.3. Accounting Role of State PR Dept

The study team has observed that the State PR department plays no significant role in the

accounting process other than releasing the grant either through State or Centre and tracking

the fund utilization under the respective schemes. The department receives the monthly

financial reports from the entire district Panchayat and as per the requirement approves the

grants. Depending on the scheme, prescribed formats are used for sending the receipts at the

State and from State to the Centre.



The State uses 5 tiers of classifications which are being used for maintaining the Panchayat

accounts. The 5 tiers are Major, Sub Major, Sub Head, Minor and Details. The conventional

method of accounting process being used by the Panchayat was the Cash basis but after the

implementation of Gujarat Rural Accounting Management (GRAM) accrual basis of accounting

is being used in the State Panchayat Department. Double entry system of accounting is being

followed in the State.

Role of PRI – District Wise

The District Panchayat department is playing a significant role in the accounting process. The

line departments after preparing the vouchers sent it to the account officer at the District

Panchayat, where the scrutiny is done by the account officer. For related schemes, the DP

releases the payment after the sign of account officer. Several payments are made at the block

level also.

Panchayat follows the conventional method of accounting other than the web based entry.

Developed by DGSM & Company, Gujarat Rural Accounting Mechanism (GRAM) is the

software used for the accounting purposes. The software is running on a pilot basis and

presently the Panchayat is also using manual accounting system.

5.4.2. Extent of PRI involvement in Schemes During the study of Dahod, it was observed that both the districts have high degree of

Panchayati Raj involvement. Several Central and State governed schemes are running through

the Panchayati Raj Department. The 3 tiers of PR Department, i.e. DP/BP/GP are involved in

the planning, implementation, monitoring and fund flow of almost all the schemes at their level.

Depending upon the schemes and services, powers were provided to PRIs in order to execute

them smoothly. There are several schemes where PRIs are involved (detailed in Table no.

5.4.2.1) in implementation, monitoring etc

Table No. 5.4.2.1 Scheme wise Involvement of PRIs Scheme Extent of Involvement of PRIs Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

DP is involved in its annual planning

National Food Security Mission (NFSM) All 3 tiers of PRIs are involved in all activities National Health Mission (NHM) All 3 tiers of PRIs are involved in all activities Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) All 3 tiers of PRIs are involved in all activities National Land Resource Management Program (NLRMP)

No involvement of PRI’s

Ashramshala DP is involved in the planning process Grant to Voluntary Organizations (G to VO) No involvement of PRI’s



Table No. 5.4.2.1 Scheme wise Involvement of PRIs Scheme Extent of Involvement of PRIs Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) DP and BP are involved

OBC Scholarships

ZP is involved in planning, monitoring and implementation. Block panchayat is involved in monitoring and implementation through block level officer. Gram Panchayat is involved in certifying occupation of parents of student applying for scholarship in pre-metric scheme

SC Scholarships

ZP is involved in planning, monitoring and implementation. Block panchayat is involved in monitoring and implementation through block level officer. Gram Panchayat is involved in certifying occupation of parents of student applying for scholarship in pre-metric scheme

SC, OBC Hostel No involvement of PRI’s Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

All 3 tiers of PRIs are involved in all activities

Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) All 3 tiers of PRIs are involved in all activities National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)


Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS)


Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKK)

DP is involved in planning without any involvement of BP and GP

National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) All 3 tiers of PRIs are involved in all activities Source: State PR Department

5.4.3. Participation in Committees As per the Panchayati Act 1993, at the District level there should be 9 committees that have to

be formed for the planning, implementation and monitoring of all the schemes and services

which are being provided by the Centre as well as State Government. In Dahod, there are 9

committees playing a vital role in the smoother implementation of works and are responsible for

the monitoring process. Committees were also prepared at the block and the village level for

planning, implementation, monitoring, reviewing and budgeting of several Central and State

governed schemes and services.

In Dahod, it has been observed that structures of these committees are fixed for the term as

stipulated in the Act. The committees are formed as per the act. In both the districts the study



team has observed that there are same numbers of committees at the district level, however

there was a change in the block and village level.

5.4.3.1. District - Dahod The committees which are formed at each level of PRIs are mentioned below in the table

5.4.3.1.1

Table No. 5.4.3.1.1: Details of Committees at Zilla, Taluka and Gram Level – Dahod

Committee Name Purpose PRI

Level

No of PRI

officials

Designation of PRI Official

Committees at the District Level

1 Executive Committee

Planning and monitoring for the whole district Review of functioning of below mentioned comm.

District 12

DP Elected Members, DDO, Dy DDO, DSO, DAO, CDHO, Dy Dir-Animal Husbandry, DPEO, Cooperative Officer, Ex. Engineer (R&B), Ex. Engineer (Irrigation) and Account Officer- DRDA

2 General Body

Planning, Reviewing, Advising, Monitoring of all DP Programs and Activities

District 2

President, DDO, Dy DDO, 2 Women members, 1 SC candidate, 1 ST candidate, 1 OBC candidate. MLA is invited as guest member. All line department heads are also invited to the meeting for answering the queries

3

20 Point Program Implementing Committee

Review of 20 Point programs run by Agri, Health, Animal, ICDS PO,

District 4 3 Elected Member and DSO is Member Secretary

4

Agri Production, Cooperative and Irrigation Committee

Check Dam Approval, Registration of Cooperative, Guidelines review, Approval of tenders

District 8

5 Elected Members. Ex. Engineer (Irrigation), Assistant District Registrar is cooperative officer and DAO is the Member Secretary

5 District Health Committee

Scheme Planning (less role), Implementation, Quarterly review, Monitoring and correction

District 10

4 Elected Members, ADHO, RCHO, DMO, EMO, Administrative Officer and CDHO is the Member Secretary





Level

No of PRI

officials


6 District Social Justice Committee

Grievance Handling, Atrocity Resolution, Advisory Role, Monitoring

District 6

4 Elected Member, 1 Nominated Member and DSWO is the Member Secretary

7 District Primary Education Committee

New School Sanction, Maintenance and renovation of school building, establishment review, monitoring of school, supply issue

District 9 8 Elected Members and DPEO is the Member Secretary

8 Women and Child Development

National Nutrition program monitoring and implementation. 0-6 aged kids pre primary education (Anganwadi), Health service for kids, pregnant women and feeding women nutrition, anemic control program

District 5 4 Elected Member and District Program Officer is the Member Secretary

9 District Baandhkam Committee

Tender Invitation, Approval, Work progress monitoring and advice for improvement. Quarterly review. New works sanction

District 6 5 Elected Members and Ex. Engineer- R&B (Panchayat) is the Member Secretary

Committees at the Block Level

1 General Body Committee

Planning, Reviewing, Advising, Monitoring of all Block Panchayat Programs and Activities. Reporting to District

Block 2

President (Chairman), TDO (Sec), All elected Members, MLA (Invited), District Panchayat Member from the respective block and all block panchayat officers


Budgetary Monitoring, Financial Progress, Decision Making related to plans, expenses for the block

Block 6 One Elected Member is the Chairperson, 3-4 Elected Members and TDO (Sec)

3 Social Justice Committee

Special focus in SC pockets, providing Infrastructures, Hospitals,

Block 1 SC Elected Member is the Chairperson, TDO (Sec), 2 SC Elected Members and 2





Level

No of PRI

officials


Schools, Anganwadi etc. Stopping and Monitoring atrocities against SC people

Women elected members

4 20 Point Implementation Committee

Monitoring 20 Point Program

Block 2 President (Chairman), TDO (Sec) and all elected Members

Committees at the Gram Level

1 Gram Sabha Samiti

Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting of all developmental works undertaken in that village panchayat area

Gram 1

Sarpanch (Chairperson),Talati (Sec) and Elected Members of Gram Panchayat

2 Village Health and Sanitation Committee

Implementation and Monitoring of all health and sanitation activities undertaken

Gram 5

Sarpanch, Talati, MPHW/FHW, ASHA, ANM, Anganwadi Worker and Head Master of School

3 Village Water Committee

Implementation and Monitoring of drinking/domestic water supply related activities undertaken

Gram 3

Sarpanch, Talati, Anganwadi Worker, Retired/ Distinguished person of village and 2-3 elected members

4 Village Education Committee

Planning, Implementation and Monitoring of all education related grants/schemes/activities etc

Gram 3

Sarpanch, Talati, Head Master (Sec) and 2-3 Members (can be elected or from village)

Source: District Panchayat Department

5.4.3.2. District - Banaskantha Various committees are formed at each level of Panchayat ( 9 at the District Panchayat, 3 at the

Taluka Panchayat and 3 at the Gram Panchayat) to facilitate the works/schemes carried out at

each tier (ZP/TP/GP). These committees are primarily in-charge of monitoring and reviewing.

The committees which are formed at each level of PRIs (ZP/TP/BP) are mentioned below in the

table 5.4.3.2.1:



Table No: 5.4.3.2.1: Details of Committees at Zilla, Taluka and Gram Level - Banaskantha

Committee Name Purpose PRI Level No of PRI

officials Designation of PRI Official

Committees at District Level


Planning and monitoring for the whole district Review of functioning of below mentioned comm.

District 12

DP Elected Members, DDO, Dy DDO, DSO, DAO, CDHO, Dy Dir-Animal Husbandry, DPEO, Cooperative Officer, Ex. Engineer (R&B), Ex. Engineer (Irrigation) and Account Officer- DRDA

2 General Body

Planning, Reviewing, Advising, Monitoring of all DP Programs and Activities

District 2

President, DDO, Dy DDO, 2 Women members, 1 SC candidate, 1 ST candidate, 1 OBC candidate. MLA is invited as guest member. All line department heads are also invited to the meeting for answering the queries

3

20 Point Program Implementing Committee

Review of 20 Point programs run by Agri, Health, Animal, ICDS PO,

District 4 3 Elected Member and DSO is Member Secretary

4

Agri Production, Cooperative and Irrigation Committee

Check Dam Approval, Registration of Cooperative, Guidelines review, Approval of tenders

District 8

5 Elected Members. Ex. Engineer (Irrigation), Assistant District Registrar is cooperative officer and DAO is the Member Secretary

5 District Health Committee

Scheme Planning (less role), Implementation, Quarterly review, Monitoring and correction

District 10

4 Elected Members, ADHO, RCHO, DMO, EMO, Administrative Officer and CDHO is the Member Secretary


Grievance Handling, Atrocity Resolution, Advisory Role, Monitoring

District 6 4 Elected Member, 1 Nominated Member &DSWO is the Member Secretary

7 District Primary Education Committee

New School Sanction, Maintenance and renovation of school building, establishment review, monitoring of school, supply issue

District 9 8 Elected Members and DPEO is the Member Secretary

8 Women and Child

National Nutrition program monitoring and

District 5 4 Elected Member and District Program Officer is the



Development implementation. 0-6 aged kids pre primary education (Anganwadi), Health service for kids, pregnant women and feeding women nutrition, anemic control program

Member Secretary

9 District Baandhkam Committee

Tender Invitation, Approval, Work progress monitoring and advice for improvement. Quarterly review. New works sanction

District 6 5 Elected Members and Ex. Engineer- R&B (Panchayat) is the Member Secretary

Committees at Block level

1 General Body Committee

Planning, Reviewing, Advising, Monitoring of all Block Panchayat Programs and Activities. Reporting to District

Block 2

President (Chairman), TDO (Sec), All elected Members, MLA (Invited), District Panchayat Member from the respective block and all block panchayat officers


Budgetary Monitoring, Financial Progress, Decision Making related to plans, expenses for the block

Block 6 One Elected Member is the Chairperson, 3-4 Elected Members and TDO (Sec)


Special focus in SC pockets, providing Infrastructures, Hospitals, Schools, Anganwadi etc. Stopping and Monitoring atrocities against SC people

Block 1

SC Elected Member is the Chairperson, TDO (Sec), 2 SC Elected Members and 2 Women elected members

Committees at Gram level

1 Gram Sabha Samiti

Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting of all developmental works undertaken in that village panchayat area

Gram 1 Sarpanch (Chairperson), Talati (Sec) and Elected Members of Gram Panchayat

2 Village Water Committee

Implementation and Monitoring of drinking/domestic water supply related activities undertaken

Gram 3

Sarpanch, Talati, Anganwadi Worker, Retired/ Distinguished person of village and 2-3 elected members

3 Village Planning, Implementation Gram 3 Sarpanch, Talati, Head



Education Committee

& Monitoring of education related grants/ schemes/ activities

Master (Sec) and 2-3 Members (can be elected or from village)



5.5. Best Practices & Key Learning related to Panchayati Raj Governance Several initiatives have been taken by the Panchayat Raj governance in the state of Gujarat to

ensure adequate, effective and efficient service delivery at all levels of the Panchayat. Further it

was observed that it has been a continuous endeavor by the state and district Panchayat to

innovate ways that would lead to emergence of Gujarat as a leader. Some of such best

practices have been listed below:

1. E-Gram: It is the most

prestigious ICT initiative by the

state government. The objective

of e-Gram is to develop the

Village Panchayat by providing

necessary basic infrastructure as

the delivery point of e-services of

different government department.

This effort will not only help to

fulfill objectives of the 73rd and

74th amendment, but will also

help to bring self-sufficiency at

the village level. The following are the highlights of the e-Gram infrastructure:

► No. of connections : 13693

► No. of concurrent users/Video conference (384 KBPS): 70 channels

► No. of concurrent users/Voice chat (384 KBPS): 200 channels

► Video broadcast channel of 4 Mbps: 1 channel

Applications that can be enabled through the above in a priority basis are distant learning,

tele-medicine, tele-counseling for agriculture, grievance Redressal etc

2. Village computer Entrepreneur: The e-Gram initiative utilizes the efforts of a local village

citizen, designated as Village computer Entrepreneur (VCE) for delivery of services at the

Gram Level. This PPP model adopted by the Panchayat helps empower the citizens of the

village and inherently addresses the issue of attrition

3. Gram Mitra: The state introduced the scheme of Gram Mitra who would assist in

implementing the government schemes at the village level. It is a cadre of five youths per

Gram Panchayat who are paid a stipend of Rs. 1000 per month. The five Gram Mitras have

the responsibility of development, education, health, agriculture and social welfare



respectively. It was observed that this scheme has been temporarily terminated from

March, 2009. However the state is considering the option of re-introducing the Gram Mitras.

4. GRAM (Gujarat rural Accounting manual): Is a

uniform chart of accounting manual software in

Gujarati language. It is a project for the Period

01.04.2007 to 31.03.2010 to enable data migration.

The main objective of the GRAM is:

► Preparation of Software – Web enabled for Accrual

Accounting at PRIs, enabling automation in report

generation and consolidation

► Resources for Accrual Accounting of PRIs deployed

by Project implementation Agency

► Enable accounting for all line departments by the

Gram Panchayats

5. GAM: Gujarat Asset Management: The GAM has

the following objective:

► ALL PRIs Fixed Assets Mapping & its Valuation. ► Immovable Assets Photography & Mapping. ► Mapping to Software and then be Web Published ► Current Assets / Liabilities Mapping for last 4 Years

from 01.04.2007 & its Valuation. ► Preparation of Opening Balance of ALL PRI as on

01.04.2007 6. Samras Gram Yojana: It was started in the year

October, 2001 to encourage harony, incentives dialogue and discourage disputes in village.

This scheme Incentives for unopposed election of

Panchayat representatives. An incentive of Rs1.00

Lakh for the Village Panchayat having Population up

to 5000 and Rs1.50 Lakh for the Village Panchayat

having Population more than 5000 is been extended 7. Panchvati Yojana: Objectives of the Panchvati

Yojana is to provide facility for recreation in village, to

encourage environmental friendly activities and to



develop natural sites with tourism potential Following are the features of the Panchvati

Yojana: ► Implementation from 2004-05 ► Grant of Rs 1 lakh against minimum

contribution of Rs. 50000 by the village ► Dovetailing with other developmental

schemes ► Playing grounds for children

► Places of recreation for women and the elderly ► Plantation of trees ► focus on amenities for women, children and senior citizens ► Rs.8 Lakh mobilized as public contribution at Demol (Anand) and Rs 12 Lakh at

Vadodara. 8. Tirth Gram Yojana: The objective was to

promote unity, peace, social harmony and all-

round development of villages. It was implemented from 2004-05. Award of Rs. 1 lakh

as incentive is given to each Teerth Gram. The

following are the Criteria for Selection: Crime free

track record for the last five years ► No sale and consumption of intoxicants

► Proper sanitation

► High enrollment of girls in school and low drop out rate

► Absence of communal disputes

► Resolution of disputes through dialogue and discussion

9. Nirmal Gujarat: The following are the objectives of Nirmal Gujarat:

► Elimination of open defecation in rural Gujarat

► Ensuring total cleanliness in villages by safe

disposal of solid and liquid waste

► Changing hygiene behavior of community for

better health

► Creating clean and healthy environment in

rural areas



► Community involvement in cleanliness drive

► Arresting diarrhea deaths of children

► Increasing girl child enrollment in schools

The programme aims at convergence of various Rural Development Programs in creation of

sanitation facilities. Special provision for Nirmal Gujarat is provided in the State Budget. It aims

at developing community participation by intensive IEC

10. Sardar Patel Awas Yojana: Sardar Patel Awas

Yojana for land less agricultural laborers and village

artisan living Below Poverty line in rural areas of the

State. Sardar Awas Vasahat, Rampun, dist. Vadodara

Govt. has made strategic planning for solution of

houses in the village. The poor has right to live new

life and to turn to new culture as colony of poor

population Conclusion Gujarat has long history of panchayati raj. It has robust administrative setup with supporting

infrastructure in place to effectively carry out its functions. Although only 14 functions out 29

functions are devolved, the functions are devolved effectively till lowest tier. For planning,

implementation and Monitoring purposes, PRIs have guidelines in form of Gujarat Panchayat

Act. PRIs have committees formed as per Panchayat Act and they are actively meeting and

reviewing the performance of developmental work carried out. PRIs are given enough avenues

to generate their own funds and spend them as per their needs. There are proper guidelines in

place to audit the expenditure and income of PRIs. On the whole panchayati raj setup in Gujarat

is robust, active and ready for next step of ICT enablement



6. Information and Services Needs Objective This section depicts the information and service needs of state PR and other line departments,

PRIs and citizens. The needs for state are segregated according planning, implementation and

monitoring stages. A birds-eye view of the department specific needs have also been detailed.

The needs for PRIs and Citizens are mentioned in subsequent sub sections. Also mentioned are

expected benefits from e-PRI initiative.

In order to assess the information and services needs of Gujarat state, the study team met

various stakeholders at each level. PR department and other line departments involved in

implementation of important schemes sponsored by centre or state at state level were met, to

ascertain their thoughts, vision, issues & challenges, suggestion and recommendation to make

ICT enablement a success in the state.

The objective of meeting them was to understand how the various schemes are being planned,

implemented, monitored and reported. Apart from that, also understanding the role the IT plays

Health

Department

Education

Department

Social

Justice

Department

Woman and

Child

development

Department

of Land

Records Sports

Department

Planning

Department

Tribal

Developmen

t

Road and

Building

Water Board

(Rural)

Rural

Developmen

t Department

Agriculture

Department

Panchayati

Raj

Department

Figure 18: Departments visited in State



and future plans of different departments to use IT for smoother execution and monitoring their

schemes, was another major objective of these meetings.

At District level, study team met District president, DDO, Dy DDO and all Panchayat department

officials. The objective was to validate the findings at state level and also to understand issues,

challenges they face and what role IT can play to mitigate them

At block level again study team met Block president, TDO, ATDO, and various line department

officials to understand schemes being run and their involvement in that. Apart from that, we also

discussed various services being offered by them to citizens and how they are provided and what is

the overall process flow. The department we met is

Health

Department

Primary

Education

Social

Justice

Department

Woman and

Child

developme

R&B

Panchayat

Minor

Irrigation

Accounts

Department

Revenue

Department

Tribal

Developme

nt

Road and

Building

Sarv

Shiksha

Abhiyan

DRDA

Agriculture

Department

Zilla

Panchayat

Figure 19: Departments visited in ZP



At Gram level, study team conducted one Gram-Sabha in presence of district and village

officials and gram Panchayat members to understand citizen awareness and their service

needs. In addition to that, team met Talati, Sarpanch, Village Computer Entrepreneur and Gram

Sevaks separately to understand their roles and their needs mainly from ICT point of view

Health

Department

Primary

Education

Social

Justice

Department Woman and

Child

development

Accounts

Department

Revenue

Department

Tribal

Development

Integrated

Rural

Development

Agriculture

Department

Block

Panchayat

Anganwadi

Primary Health

Centre

Primary School Talati

VCE and

eGRAM

Gram Sewak

Sarpanch

Gram Panchayat

Figure 20: Departments visited in BP

Figure 21: People and Places visited in GP



6.1. I&S Needs of State PR Department and other line departments As detailed above, after meeting PR department and line departments in the state, team came

to a conclusion that issues and challenges that come in their way are mostly similar in nature,

but a few issues mentioned are specific department specific. In subsequent paragraphs we first

discuss issues, which are common across all departments and then those issues which are

specific department specific along with their expectations from e-PRI project. Further the

information and service need findings have been divided into three categories, namely: 1. State

Line Department 2. Panchayati Raj Institutions and 3. Citizens

6.1.1. The common issues faced by all departments

6.1.1.1. In Planning While planning for various schemes and other initiatives, departments face various challenges

as stated below

1) Challenge: Duplication of data and difficulty in using the same data across departments: In planning, data is sought from various departments for various

purposes. Different department have different data collection methods, formats for data

representation and different coding system. These differences across departments lead

to duplication of data. This leads to massive waste of resources since same data is

collected by multiple agencies. Expectation from e-PRI: An integrated database accessible by all departments and

editable by only the authorized department. For example, disease related data is

accessible by all but can be updated and changed only by health department officials

2) Different coding system by the same department at different tiers: It was observed

that separate coding system for the same set of data is used by the same department at

different tiers. The data received from the gram level follows a different coding system

as opposed to the one at the district level, thus the same set of data is re-punched at the

district level. For example births and deaths have a national coding system. The coding

system at the village level is dissimilar as compared to the national coding system. Thus

the entire data received from the grass root levels are re-entered at the state level.

Expectation from e-PRI: A uniform coding system for the same set of data be

developed for inter-department and intra-department use.

3) Challenge: Unauthentic data provided to departments from various agencies:

Before annual planning departments 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.

Expectations from e-PRI: 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

4) Challenge: Unverified data coming from lower tiers of Panchayat setup: The data

coming from these tiers (ZP/BP/GP) is not totally accurate and up to date in many

cases. The reasons for this are, poor connectivity despite GSWAN and VSAT (poor

connectivity is due to overload on the existing network/bandwidth capacity),

unavailability of skilled manpower and overload of data entry at district and block level.

Such data received makes planning not effective and accurate.

Expectations from e-PRI: If data entry work is distributed till lowest level, load on each

operator will be less and this will lead to reduced backlogs and accurate data availability

which is required for accurate planning.

5) Challenge: 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.

Expectations from e-PRI: As mentioned above also, 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



6.1.1.2. In Implementation Departments face various issues while implementing various schemes which can be addressed

by ICT initiatives up to a large extent. Following are the issues faced by departments in

implementation

1) Challenge: 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

Expectations from e-PRI: 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

2) Challenge: Not Enough staff to handle implementation effectively: In many

departments, staff is not enough to handle or not trained enough to handle ICT related

works (Data Entry etc) that are there. This adds extra work load to their daily activities

and hampers their productivity and implementation of scheme suffers.

Expectations from e-PRI: 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

3) Challenge: Lot of Paperwork Involved: During implementation of any scheme or activity a lot of paperwork is involved. This paperwork takes a lot of time of implementing

officers. They spend much of their time in office instead of field where actual work is

being carried out. This situation leads to ineffective implementation since officers are not

involved to the extent they are required to.

Expectations from e-PRI: More digitization of data, online portals supporting all

activities like estimate, tendering, inspection, accounting and capabilities at lower tiers is

the solution to this problem of paperwork

6.1.1.3. In Monitoring

Challenge: Reports generated manually every month makes monitoring a slow process:

Currently, throughout the year, monthly monitoring reports are being made at all level to monitor

the physical and financial progress of scheme and activities that are undertaken. These reports

are made manually. This process of compilation of reports start at gram or block level, which is



consolidated at district level and sent to state for review. This process is very lengthy and by the

time reports reach the state for review, they are already very old. Many a times any issue

encountered at ground during implementation is not highlighted in time and it is too late for any

course correction.

Expectations from e-PRI: 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.

6.1.1.4. In Reporting and Accounting

1) Challenge: Bulky reports and huge data make further analysis of data difficult: As

mentioned earlier 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.

Expectations from e-PRI: 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.

2) Challenge: 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.

Expectations from e-PRI: Use of ICT enabled tools which are networked across all tiers

can reduce the burden of making vouchers, manual entries and multiple verification. 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. Hence, ICT enablement will greatly reduce accounting related problems

currently faced by all departments and improve efficiency and transparency of system



These are some common ICT related needs felt by all line departments and ICT enablement will

go a long way in addressing them.

6.1.2. Some department specific issues and needs

6.1.2.1. Department of Health

Challenge: Enormous Data flow in Department of health: Department of health, for its

planning uses a variety of data points e.g. disease data (TB, Malaria, Leprosy etc), mortality

rates (IMR, MMR), number of births and deaths, immunization statistics etc. The collection,

sanitation, storage and retrieval of this data in itself are huge tasks. This data volume makes the

entire planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting process lengthy and error prone.

Since the data volume is high and obtained from multiple sources, base line data used for

planning in many cases is not up to date and accurate, leading to faulty planning. All this data is

entered into system at district level. At district level this volume is very high and this leads to

backlogs which ultimately results into delay in planning and monitoring.

Expectations from e-PRI: Use of IT at all levels will enable the department to enter the data at

village level, thus reducing the amount of data that needs to be entered at district level. The data

will be timely and accurate for future usage.

6.1.2.2. Department of Agriculture

Challenge: A comprehensive knowledge for farmers with easy access: The agriculture

department wants to create an informed, knowledgeable and aware farmer. Agriculture

department has already built a database for such use but its use is still limited. Department

hopes to leverage upon this already existing platform to create a knowledge base which is easy

to use and easy to understand by farmers. This knowledge base will have information about

farming techniques, crop information, seed information, pesticide knowledge, fertilizer

information and any latest innovation in farming.

Expectations from e-PRI: ICT enablement will also facilitate weather update, Information on

Monsoon and quick information dissemination in case of extreme weather changes or upcoming

calamity which can affect crops.

► IT can also be used to disseminate information about prices of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides

etc. IT can also used to buy these items online. This can be one channel for producers of

these items to market their product.



► Even the buyer of grains can publish their prices online and farmer can decide whom to sell

on the basis of best prices. Thus, IT holds lots of applications for agriculture department

and farmers.

6.1.2.3. Department of Land Records

Challenge: Proper Authorization and safety of land records: Department of land records in

state has already done digitization of land records and they are giving services like RoR to

citizens using e-Gram. However, their main concern is safety of their land records and who

should be given the authority of mutating the records. There are already instances of misuse of

this database and some mutation happened in unauthorized manner.

Expectations from e-PRI: IT enablement with safe, hack proof data base with proper

authorization powers and authorization techniques (like biometrics or retina scan), for mutation

of records can solve this problem to a large extent

6.1.2.4. Department of Road and Building

Challenge: Transparency in tendering, inspection and monitoring of works: The prime

concern of department of Road and Building is to bring in more transparency in the system in

terms of planning estimates, tendering, inspection and monitoring of projects undertaken.

Expectations from e-PRI: Use of IT will enable online review of works at all level at any time.

This will improve transparency in system. Online tendering process is already in use in state and

has made the system of awarding contracts more transparent than before.

6.1.2.5. Department of Education

Challenge: Integration of data with other department to avoid yearly survey: Every year

primary school teachers do a survey to determine eligible children yet to be enrolled in schools.

This process is cumbersome and at times not very accurate. In many cases report fails to

capture all the data and eligible children are not enrolled in school in time

Expectations from e-PRI: If birth registration data, family data (BPL etc), migration data can be

integrated, the eligible student list for new enrollment can be generated quickly with minimum

errors. This database can automatically give the list of eligible students for scholarships.

Immunization program for children can be determined from birth registration data and advance



notice can be sent to their mothers. For other education related schemes also, this database

can be used to check availability and eligibility

6.2. I&S Needs of PRI (ZP/BP/GP)

At ZP/BP/GP level, study team met various line department officials, elected members and

citizen to understand their vision, plans, issues, challenges and opportunities to use ICT tools to

enhance their delivery mechanisms and various planning, implementing and monitoring

activities. The assessment of their needs is as below.

6.2.1. I&S Needs of Zilla Panchayat

Need 1: Need for an integrated portal for all departments and services: The PRI officials

also expressed their need of having a single integrated portal which can be used to do all their

work from planning till reporting for all schemes. Every portal which has been developed so

far (e-Gram, GRAM, NREGA, PMGSY) are requested by different departments (like state,

centre etc) and developed by different agencies (NIC, DGSM etc). Because of this, all

softwares have a very different user interface, menu style and general operation style. So, for

the less trained staff understanding, operating and troubleshooting these various portals

becomes very challenging and thus leading to less utilization of IT enablement.

Expectations from e-PRI: The need is to have a single comprehensive portal which contains

all basic application (planning, accounting etc). Such a portal with uniform look and feel will

help in speedy training of people. Moreover, introducing more modules under same portal will

not be very difficult to operate on, once the basic portal is mastered.

Need 2: Need for Adequate regular staff and IT Manpower: During the study phase, the

team observed that adequate manpower is an issue. At all levels of PRI, the staffing is not

adequate. Many sanctioned posts are vacant. The biggest need is to provide trained people

who can work on all these portals. Apart from providing more people who can work on

computer, the existing manpower should also be given training on how to use computer and

panchayat portals.

Expectation from e-PRI: It is expected that proper manpower for performing regular

functions and trained manpower for IT related functions will improve the overall efficacy of

departments.



Need 3: Need for proper connectivity: The other requirement of ZP is that of proper

connectivity. The GSWAN connectivity provided to districts is although functioning well but is

not adequate. The connection keeps dropping and bandwidth is also not enough. So the need

is to provide enough bandwidth, server capacity and other supporting infrastructure at all

levels and especially at lowest level, where most of data entry should happen.

Expectation from e-PRI: A demand assessment of current needs and future needs based on

plans of other departments and changing demographics should be done. On that basis all

villages should be provided connectivity and bandwidth.

Need 4: Need for continuous training to existing and new manpower: Though in the

state, officials are required to obtain CCC and CCC+ certification from a government or

government recognized training institute, PRI officials felt that currently the staff is trained only

occasionally and when new portals are introduced or changes in existing portals are done.

Continuous staff training on that is not the priority. To improve their productivity and motivation

level, constant upgradation of their skills with regard to IT is needed.

Expectation from e-PRI: A demand assessment of training needs can be done based on

existing skills and skills needed in present as well as in future. A training calendar having

various programs for the year can be made and the same can be imparted using training

infrastructure. There can be various avenues in which training can be given to staff on a

regular basis.

i) Web Based training, Online training module

ii) Demo Videos, animations can be made, which can be viewed by people to understand

iii) Class room training using training institutes that are there

iv) Using webcasting

v) Using Video Conferencing facilities

Need 5: Need for Enhanced Maintenance and up gradation of existing hardware: In

district, existing IT hardware needs maintenance. Many departments are having old and

outdated equipment which cannot work on newer software. A lot of equipment is lying unused

for want of upgrade or repair. Such issues hamper the efficiency of panchayat functions.

Expectation from e-PRI: A hardware tracking module can be created which will track all the

hardware provided and their specifications. This can also be used to log problems and



upgrade needs. Using the portal, a decision to upgrade or replace the hardware can also be

taken on a central level

Need 6: To further improve awareness level of elected members in PRI setup: We

believe that the first step of creating more aware citizen is to create an aware representative.

Elected members are often not educated enough and not aware of their roles and

responsibilities. This makes representation of people weak in PRI setup.

Expectation from ePRI: Through more intense and continuous training to elected members,

they should be made more aware of their duties and power accorded to them. Apart from

using conventional classroom training, which takes more time and effort on the part of all

members as well as of trainer, various ICT tools like video conferencing and online training

modules can be used. Using these tools will lower the training costs and man-hours spent.

6.2.2. I&S Needs of Block Panchayat

Need 1: Need for an integrated portal for all BP departments and related services: The

BP officials also mentioned their problem of having to coordinate with many portals and

databases for various schemes. Their problems are also similar to those experienced by zilla

panchayat officials

Expectations from e-PRI: A single comprehensive portal which contains all basic application

(planning, accounting etc) for block panchayat and which has direct linkages with district

portal as well so that data sharing can be easy and seamless. Such a portal with uniform look

and feel will help in speedy training of people. Moreover, introducing more modules under

same portal will not be very difficult to operate on, once the basic portal is mastered.

Need 2: Need for Adequate regular staff and IT Manpower: As with the case with ZP, BP

is also facing shortage of manpower for regular operations of panchayat. Sanctioned posts

are lying vacant. For IT functions also staff shortage and lack of requisite skills is felt by BP

Expectation from e-PRI: Appointment of skilled people for vacant seats and doing a

assessment for future needs is expected from ePRI. Proper manpower for performing regular

functions and trained manpower for IT related functions will improve the overall efficacy of

departments.



Need 3: Need for proper connectivity: Connectivity at block level is through GSWAN and

also through broadband. But compared to district the problem for proper, speedy and all time

connectivity is even severe. So the need is leverage this infrastructure to futher augment

bandwidth and ensuring connectivity all the time


plans of other departments and changing demographics should be done. On that basis BPs

should be provided connectivity and bandwidth.

Need 4: Need for continuous training to existing and new manpower: As in ZP, in BP

also officials are required to obtain CCC and CCC+ certification from a government institute or

government recognized training institute. However, only occasional training when new portals

are introduced is not enough. There is need to upgrade the skills continuously to improve

productivity and motivation level of BP staff

Expectation from e-PRI: A demand assessment of training needs can be done based on

existing skills and skills needed in present as well as in future. A training calendar having

various programs for the year can be made and the training can be imparted using the

infrastructure in place. As in case of ZP, in BP also following modes of training can explored

vi) Web Based training, Online training module

vii) Demo Videos or animations can be made, which can be viewed by people

viii) Class room training using training institutes that are there

ix) Using webcasting

x) Using Video Conferencing facilities

Need 5: Need for Enhanced Maintenance and up gradation of existing hardware: The

need for maintenance of existing hardware is felt across all the departments and the all the

tiers of PRI.

Expectation from e-PRI: As suggested earlier also a hardware tracking module, which will

track all the hardware provided and their maintenance needs can be used to log problems and

track their upgrade schedule. Using the portal, a decision to upgrade or replace the hardware

can also be taken on a central level.



Need 6: To make basic software easily available: Making Software available at BP level

reducing the need to wait for even basic installation. This will reduce the dependency of lower

tiers on ZP for basic software maintenance they might require

Expectation from e-PRI: The CDs of basic free utilities can be made available to all

panchayat (ZP/BP/GP). The setups of this software can also be put on network, which can be

accessed by all. Any update or software patch can also be disbursed quickly to all.

Need 7: To further improve awareness level of elected members at BP setup: The need

to create an aware representative is the felt as primary requirement to spread awareness

deeper and wider. Often less educated and less aware elected members make representation

of people weak in PRI setup.

Expectation from ePRI: Along with ZP members, BP members should also undergo more

intense and continuous training. They should be made more aware of their duties and power

accorded to them. Along with conventional classroom training various ICT tools like video

conferencing and online training modules can be used to impart training which are convenient

and cost effective.

6.2.3. I&S Needs of Gram Panchayat

Need 1: Need for an easy to use portal for providing all services: At GP level, which is

front end of most of services provided to citizens. There should be single portal to do

planning, monitoring, accounting and data storage. All the services should be provided using

the same single portal

Expectations from e-PRI: The team proposes such a portal for all services and schemes.

This portal with uniform look and feel will help in speedy training of people. Once learned

other modules added to it can be quickly taught to all operators

Need 2: Need for Adequate regular staff and IT Manpower: At GP level, the manpower

shortage is felt most severely. Talati are overworked with charge of many villages under them,

since many posts of talati are vacant. They are overworked and often cannot provide required

attention to any scheme or region. Apart from that their computer knowledge is also miniscule.

They cannot work on portals nor can they monitor work of subordinates like VCE. So,



adequately staffed GPs with skilled operators is the single biggest need of GPs if ePRI is to

be made an all pervasive initiative.

Expectation from e-PRI: It is expected that proper manpower for regular functions and

trained manpower for IT related functions will improve the overall efficacy of departments.

Need 3: Need for proper connectivity: The problem of connectivity is most severe in GPs.

In one of the village that the team visited, it was observed that connectivity provided by VSAT

was not enough and it kept on disconnecting. The connection dropped often and servers were

also not responding quickly enough. So the need is to provide enough bandwidth, server

capacity and other supporting infrastructure at all levels and especially at lowest level, where

most of data entry should happen.


plans of other departments and changing demographics should be done. On that basis all

villages should be provided connectivity and bandwidth.

Need 5: Need for Enhanced Maintenance and up gradation of existing hardware: In one

of the village team visited, it was observed that monitor was not working for past 15 days and

problem was not resolved. Such issues hamper the usefulness of e-Gram and people are not

enthusiastic about services delivered through this channel. One more solution to this problem

can be, training of VCE about basic maintenance of the system in hardware and software

terms.

Expectation from e-PRI: A hardware tracking module as explained earlier can be one

answer to the problem of maintenance and upgrade

Need 6: To make basic software availability till GP level: It was observed that e-Gram PC

of village was infested with viruses hampering the performance of computer. The VCE had

complained but he was kept waiting for antivirus installation for 20 days. So there is a need to

make available a set of basic software like antivirus, PDF reader, Win Zip etc at GP levels.

Expectation from e-PRI: Software can be made available to all GPs on CDs, flash drives,

and network folders shared with everyone.

Need 7: To further improve awareness level of elected members in PRI setup: The need

to create and aware representative is most at the lowest level, where all the need to have



awareness in citizens is most. Educated and aware elected members make for a strong

representation of people in PRI setup.

Expectation from ePRI: GP needs continuous training of its elected member about their

roles and responsibilities. As mentioned for ZP/BP also different modes of training can be

used like class room training, video based training, video conferencing based training, web

based training.

6.3. I&S Needs of Citizens

To understand the need of citizens, the team organized a

Gramsabha in villages in respective districts of

Banaskantha and Dahod. The objective was, to check the

awareness level of citizen about schemes and services

being provided, to know the level of satisfaction of citizen

about services already delivered, to know first-hand about

expectation of citizens from panchayat and ongoing IT

initiative. Apart from that feedback from citizens was taken

individually during the course of our visits to village.

On the basis of our interaction with citizens, officials and elected members at village level, the

following needs emerge.

1) Need to create awareness about services delivered: In

Gram Sabha it was observed that awareness level of

people in village about schemes, services, procedures,

rights and regulations was not adequate. To ensure

optimum benefit of government initiative is availed by

citizens, the first step is to ensure people are aware of the

schemes and services. Awareness would ensure full

benefit being provided to each and every beneficiary for any schemes e.g. NREGA, SGSY

etc.

Gramsabha, Piplod

Gramsabha, Lakhni



Expectations from e-PRI:

► It is a suggestion from study team that a special monthly Gram-Sabha should be organized

to sensitize citizen about various schemes and services

► This meeting should have some small

incentive for people to come and listen. So

that people come in the meeting and then a

general information dissemination session

about scheme and services can be

organized.

► Street plays or small animation films about

schemes/services can also be shown to them to create interest among citizen

2) Need to create awareness about procedure and supporting documents required: In the

same manner that people are not aware of schemes, they are even less aware of procedure

involved and who can avail the benefits.

Expectations from e-PRI: As suggested above, once people are interested in scheme, they

can be made aware of process that is there to avail the benefit of that scheme.

3) Need for quick service with minimum visits to GP office: One very clear issue that

people had was people wanted just one or two visit

to gram panchayat with all supporting documents

and have the service delivered. Currently there is no

guarantee that service will be delivered in 1-2 visits.

Many a times because of unavailability of talati &

VCE at their place, connectivity problem, and printer

problem service delivery is not done on time. This

leads to citizen dissatisfaction and loss of faith in

gram panchayat setup.

Expectations from e-PRI: Maintenance of hardware, printer, making sure that official and

service providers are available in office at their assigned time, all time hitch free connectivity

should be ensured, these things will improve service delivery time and encourage citizen to

use services more

Gramsabha Odhwa, Banaskantha

Women’s group in Gram Sabha, Dahod



4) Need to provide more services at Gram Panchayat level: Currently, for many services

citizen has to go to block panchayat or executive

magistrate office. 2-3 visits in such places

increases the actual cost of service delivery for

citizen by significant amount and neither citizen

nor government gain anything from that.

Expectations from e-PRI: If these services are

delivered at gram panchayat level, people won’t

mind paying even a slightly higher fee since he is

saving on his trips to block and government earns more revenue for same service. Thus

providing service at gram panchayat is win-win situation for both citizen and government.

More IT use will reduce the overall cost of delivery and speed up the process.

5) Need for an IT enabled system to raise citizen grievances and feedbacks: In case of

problem or issues, citizen needs to have a way of raising his problems and get them

addressed. Not having any way to raise issues and not knowing whether the issues are

addressed or not reduces the faith citizen have in government setups. Currently, the way

issues can be raised is only through a letter, generally drafted with the help of a lawyer is

given to TDO or EM. If TDO or EM can’t solve it then citizen drafts a letter for DDO or DM.

Expectations from e-PRI: There must be an IT enabled service using which complaints

regarding other services, schemes and general grievances can be raised to higher authorities.

A time limit can be put for officers to respond. If officers fail to respond within time limit then

complaint gets raised to higher level officer automatically. Such service will help citizens raise

their problem and will improve their faith in the system. Such grievance Redressal system will

complement RTI and improve efficiency of officers at all levels

6) Need to reduce the amount of supporting documents required to authenticate the person and his eligibility: Currently, to get any certificate, like caste or domicile certificate or

ration card many supporting documents are required to establish the identity, address and

eligibility.

Expectations from e-PRI: If a central database of people can be made, which can simply call

all the details pertaining to that person, including photograph, current address and all other

relevant details on the basis of a ID number like UID project currently undertaken by GoI. In

Focus Group Discussion in Banaskantha



that case the person need not carry lot of supporting documents with him and can avail

services in minimum time.

7) Need to have information on various agriculture related issues available to farmer quickly: As already explained earlier in section 6.1.2.2 citizens need a database which

contains agricultural information in local language. Such a database will contain information

on seeds, crops, equipments, weather, soil, fertilizers, pesticides and other related issues.

This database can be accessed by farmers in e-Gram/CSC with the help of VCE or a gram

Sevak can access such database and relay the information to the farmer verbally or in writing.

They have also stressed upon the need of ICT to improve planning, implementation and

monitoring of various schemes and activities. There is no doubt that Gujarat is already in a e-

governance mode but more and more involvement of ICT tools in government activities will

further improve the efficacy of entire system.

At PRI level, Integration of all portals into one seamless, uniform application, Adequate

manpower at all levels, enough Bandwidth, this would also entails a future demand assessment

on a periodic basis to ensure adequacy of bandwidth, continuous training of existing and new

manpower , Training modules for supervisors/officers regarding the ICT enabled work done by

their juniors that would enable better monitoring, easy availability of basic software at all levels,

maintenance of the existing hardware are prime needs.



Service Needs of Citizen Apart from above mentioned Information needs, these are the service needs of citizen as prioritized by the study team. For the selection of services, following criteria were kept in mind. � Criticality of service for citizen � Volume of service request generated � Revenue potential for government � Ease in providing the service to citizen

Services Identified Rationale for Short-listing

1 Application / Issuance of Record of Right 1. Volume service request is high 2. Since, land records are already digitized the

service delivery is easy.

2 Application / Issuance of Farmer Certificate 1. Easy service delivery

3 Application for Soil Testing / Issuance of Soil Health Card

1. Critical for agricultural development and directly related to farmer welfare

2. High volume of service in future is expected

4 Application for Registration of Births (Rural)/ Issuance of Birth Certificate

1. Volume is high 2. Basic document to establish identity and age 3. Required in many places to avail other benefits

and services

5 Application for Registration of Deaths (Rural)/ Issuance of Death Certificates

1. Volume is high 2. Required to avail other benefits and services

6 Application for Job Card in NREGA 1. High volume of service requests 2. Key initiative in poverty alleviation and rural

infrastructure building

7 Enrolment of Student in Primary Education

1. High volume of enrolments 2. Critical for rural populace for inclusive growth

8 Disease Control Program in Rural Areas 1. Very high volume 2. Very critical for rural welfare

9 Registration of Houses Through Indira Awas Yojana (Till Advance Release)

1. Volume is not high but very critical for rural poor, which constitute a high percentage of total population

10 Application and Issuance of Tax Collection Certificate

1. High revenue potential for government 2. Service delivery is easy

11 Electricity Bill Collection Services 1. High revenue potential for government 2. High volume of service expected

12 Application and Issuance of Character Certificate

1. Critical since it is required for many services like job applications and loan applications

13 Information Regarding the Works Schemes Implemented by the Panchayat

1. Related to RTI, critical for improving transparency and efficiency of system

14

Downloading of Various Application Forms (A) New RC (B) Driving License (C) SC/ST/OBC Scholarship Disbursement Scheme (D) General Scholarship Disbursement Scheme (E)

1. High volume 2. Ease of delivery 3. Potential for revenue for government 4. Critical for availing any service



Old Age Kisan Pension Scheme (G) New Ration Card (H) Modification of Ration Card

15 Issuance of Ration Card 1. Volume is high 2. Critical for poverty alleviation and required for

many other services as authenticating document

16 Issuance of Caste certificate 1. Volume is high 2. Critical for availing SC/ST/OBC related schemes

and benefits

17 Application Issuance of income certificate 1. Volume is high 2. Critical for many services like loans and other

benefits

18 Online Application and delivery of PAN card

1. High revenue potential for government, since it will widen the tax net

19 Automatic Online Grievance Handling System

1. Very critical to improve transparency of system 2. Complements RTI 3. Improves faith of citizen in governance

20 Collection of Telephone Bill 1. High revenue potential for government 2. High service volume

Conclusion

The prime need of the citizens is that of provision of services via a one-stop-shop at the Gram

level with minimum number of visits. Further adequate awareness of schemes, services and

procedures so as to enable, maximum benefit of the services provided by the state and the

center



7. E-Governance Readiness Objective Gujarat is one of the most industrialized states in India. It is among the leading states to invest

money and resources for IT implementation in governance and citizen services. It is one of the

few states where internet facilities and connectivity is available at the grass-root level. For

example the state has set up Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN) that links

Gandhinagar (capital city) to districts and Talukas. It provides data voice, video facility and

internet access via dedicated links provided by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL). Many such

initiatives that have been initiated by the state are listed below:

7.1. Initiatives for computerization of PRI

7.1.1. E-Gram E-Gram provides for electronic issue of certificates required by villagers. Many villagers’ are

may need access to loans and subsidies for generating livelihood. The government and some

banks provide loans on submission of a variety of certificates, which were manually produced.

For instance, Income Certificate is necessary to obtain government subsidies, ration cards for

availing benefits from the public distribution system, and free health care can be obtained only

by showing proof of low income. In order to provide better services to villages, the government

felt a need to computerize the village records. Also, there was no way for the government to

monitor if the citizens’ charter that specified service levels for a variety of services.

The project, e-Gram was initiated by Gujarat government in 2003 with the following objectives:

► Prompt issue of certificates, documents and application forms

► Quick Redressal of grievances

► Providing other commercial services through e-Gram

The following three are the core objective as on date of the e-Gram initiative:

► To develop Village Panchayat by providing necessary basic infrastructure as the delivery

point of e-services of different government departments

► To also fulfill objectives of 73rd & 74th constitutional amendment

► To bridge the information and technology gap between the urban and rural sectors



The project was implemented through Gujarat Informatics Ltd. (GIL), a government of Gujarat

enterprise with an objective to promote IT and accelerate the process of e-Governance in the

state.

E-Gram Vishwagram Society E-GRAM Vishwagram Society was incepted on 7 Oct, 2007 for e-governance activities for

Panchayati Raj Institutions. It is registered under Mumbai Public Trust Act 1950 and society

registration Act 1860. The Governing Body headed by Hon. Chief Minister. The Sources of

funds–Grants from State and Central Government, Public Contributions and Grants from the

World Bank

Provision of Funds

► The District Panchayat/State Government, District IT Fund/Donations/11th Finance

Commission have provided funds for the hardware.

► Family Welfare Department/ District Village Development Agency provided the funds for

software

► GPs were responsible for site preparation

► GIL manages the vendors, selection of hardware, maintenance contracts and project

oversight

In the year 2004-05, 5875 computers (1,875 through donations and funding available with GPs

3,000 by state government and 1,000 computers aided by 11th Finance Commission) were

provided.

How does e-Gram Work?

► The specific ICT application

consists of a digitized

databank of family

information on the basis of

which certificates may be

issued at the GP level

► A rigorous household family

survey was conducted

which included all the

family information about the

members and the household income drawn

► The e-Gram software installed is PC based and has been provided by National Informatics

Centre (NIC)

SateliteSateliteMCUMCU

InternetInternet

Airtel Hub & Gujarat Airtel Hub & Gujarat NocNoc

13693 Remote Location13693 Remote Location

VoIPVoIPInternetInternetIntranetIntranet

Video Video BroadcastBroadcast

Video Video ConferanceConferance

SateliteSateliteMCUMCU

InternetInternet

Airtel Hub & Gujarat Airtel Hub & Gujarat NocNoc

13693 Remote Location13693 Remote Location

VoIPVoIPInternetInternetIntranetIntranet

Video Video BroadcastBroadcast

Video Video ConferanceConferance

Figure 22: Network Architect e-Gram Project

Source: eGRAM Vishwagram Society



► Currently e-Gram is connected by VSAT unto the grassroots level

► Each Gram Panchayat has VSAT connectivity from where various G2C services are

provided to the citizen

Figure 23: Computer, Laser Printer and UPS distribution at Gram Panchayats

► Services provided through e-Gram at the Gram Panchayat level

Table No. 7.1.1.1: Service provisioning through eGram Sl. No. Services provided through e-Gram 1 Birth & Death Certificate 2 Marriage Certificate 3 Character Certificate 4 Farmer Certificate 5 Tax Collection Certificate 6 Caste Certificate 7 Record of Rights 8 Income Certificate 9 Electricity bill collection

10 Other certificates (Samaj Kalyan, Matsaya, Vima, Vaniki, Jamin Vikas, Khan & Khanij, Nasha bandi, Vechan Varo etc.)

The way ahead

The e-Gram project in the state of Gujarat aspires to integrate the services/schemes provided

by the various line departments so as to provide a one-stop-shop to the citizen at the Gram level

700

5875

8951

12151

13693

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

Upto March2003-04

Upto March2004-05

Upto March2005-06

Upto March2006-07

March-08

Source: eGRAM Vishwagram



for G2C and B2C services. The path breaking initiative, e-Gram of the state government aims

at achieving the ideology:

“While the world becomes the global village, e-Gram Panchayat turns village global”

7.1.2. Gujarat Portal

Information and Service delivery

solution for Government services in

Gujarat

NIC has developed a portal

(http://portal.gujarat.giv.in) under the

guidance of Department of Science

and Technology which has integrated

service delivery system. It is a sector

and citizen based information portal

which provides single page for

accessing majority of the government

information & services.

Gujarat has also developed a service portal (http://gp.gujarat.nic.in) which houses many

application formats. Application will be processed on the portal and competent authority will give

the decision on the application based on the intermediate office procedures. All authorized

government users can monitor the system at any level. It has the provision for applying online

for any service for registered user of the Gujarat portal.

7.1.3. SWAGAT online

SWAGAT (State Wide Attention on Public Grievance by Application of Technology) is a very

uniquely designed and efficiently managed online grievance Redressal system. It has been

citied as one of the global success stories in e-transparency & de-accountability. The system

has its reach to the Taluka level

Which means citizen can use its sitting there. Moreover it has the capacity to join all the

stakeholders online and bring out final solution to the citizen grievance almost instantly. The

Hon. CM‘s personal involvement and commitment to develop and run this system has added to

its credibility and efficacy. NIC’s involvement and support has made this programme a

http://portal.gujarat.giv.in)

http://gp.gujarat.nic.in



consistent success.

Working of SWAGAT:

► The program is organized on every 4th Thursday of the month.

► The complainer visits CM’s ‘Jansampark’ office between 10 am to 12 pm, to register

complains.

► Complains are divided in 3 categories. Policy matters, Long Pending and First Timer. The

focus is on long pending issues.

► Complains are entered ‘ON Line’, using package developed by NIC.

► Complains are sent to the concerned department at the same time, with a copy to the all

related department.

► Departments have to be ready with the replies, before 3 PM, when honorable CM starts

Video Conference with the Districts concerned.

► Applicants are being called one by one and honorable CM discusses the issues with them

in detail. The information, which is sent by the concerned department, is also reviewed by

hon. CM.

► Concerned Collector / DDO / SP also remain present in the meeting through VC and

participate in the discussion.

► Hon. CM. directs the concerned department, to take appropriate steps, to resolve the issue.

► The record has been preserved in the ‘SWAGAT’ package and the log is maintained for

each case separately.

► The ‘SWAGAT’ is an administrative tool, which increases the administrative efficiency of

Government Machinery.

7.1.4. Gujarat Ration Card Computerization (GRCC)

GRCC is a web based solution http://grcc.guj.nic.in, launched in April 2007 for computerization

of more than 10 million Ration Cards in Gujarat. It is a central architect based system where the

http://grcc.guj.nic.in



connectivity is provided through GSWAN up to the Taluka level. The benefits include online G-

Register, ration card details & management of huge consumer base. The department of food

and civil supply is in process of computerizing the state sugar and kerosene allocation

7.1.5. EDhara (Land Records) & ROR at village

NIC, Gujarat state developed comprehensive software BhuLekh Soft to capture the day to day

land record transactions taking place and implemented it at the Taluka levels. All 225 Taluka of

the 25 districts in Gujarat are equipped with a server, clients, printers, Bio-Metrics Devices, etc

and the transactions are done online.

ROR@Village: Record of Rights at the Village (http://ror.guj.nic.in) is the integration of eDhara

project with Vishwagram project. To start with, facility of issuing ROR is extended to Village

Panchayat. The system uses GSWAN, SAN setup at NIC Gujarat State Centre and e-DKs. The

entire process of filing the request for ROR by village Talati/VCE, processing and uploading of

ROR by eDhara Dy, Mamlatdar and final printout by VCE to the citizen has been automated.

7.1.6. Jan Seva Kendra The initiatives taken by NIC & District Administration in Gujarat, to leverage on ICT for effective

governance have not only resulted in innovation in governance but also set a role model of

eGoverance in the country. “Jan Seva Kendra” (http://janseva.guj.nic.in) is all about IT enabled

service delivery to the citizen, bringing in the required transparency and eliminating chances of

delay, harassment, nepotism and corruption

7.1.7. Electrification of Gram Panchayat Buildings under Jyotigram Yojana Government of Gujarat has taken the initiative of electrification of all gram panchayat building

under Jyotigram Yojana. Under this scheme government has successfully achieved its target of

providing electricity connections to all gram panchayat buildings.

7.1.8. Providing hardware and accessories to PRIs Government has equipped all panchayat with computer and accessories. In this initiative,

District panchayat, Block panchayat and Gram panchayat are given computers, laser printers

and UPS are provided at all levels. In addition to that each gram panchayat has a webcam,

VoIP phone provided.

http://ror.guj.nic.in

http://janseva.guj.nic.in)



7.1.9. Providing touch screen kiosks for easier information dissemination All talukas are given a touch screen kiosks to be installed in the building premises. These kiosks

are to be used to know services, schemes, procedures to be followed and other basic

information about taluka and other things. All talukas are provided with kiosks but their use so

far is limited and people are not using it and many cases kiosks are not installed at all for public

use.

7.1.10. Providing furniture for backward gram panchayat Panchayat which are backward and can’t buy furniture from their own funds were provided

furniture from state to operationalize the gram panchayat

7.1.11. Providing Laptop and Projectors State government also took initiative of equipping all districts with laptops and projectors.

Currently, all districts have these facilities available and in use

7.1.12. Providing video conference facility All districts and block are equipped with video conferencing facilities and can be connected to

state headquarters directly. Currently, it is available and is used for meetings, information

sessions etc

7.1.13. Providing GSWAN facility State government has taken initiative and successfully installed a state wide area network. It is

called GSWAN (Gujarat SWAN). All districts and blocks are connected through this network.

Although the network offers good bandwidth, it was observed that connectivity on this network at

all times was not possible. Disconnection with network was often and officers expressed their

dissatisfaction over GSWAN. In addition to GSWAN block are also equipped with broadband

connection and SATCOM facilities to further improve the connectivity.

7.1.14. Providing technical manpower support Till block level, technical support personnel are provided to troubleshoot e-Gram, GSWAN,

computer related problems. These service providers are hired on contract.

7.1.15. Providing Technical Support and Training Service Provider (TSTSP) under e-Gram



All districts are provided TSTSPs. The job of these people is to provide technical support to e-

Gram and training of people working under district panchayat. TSTSPs are of third party which

is in contract with government to provide such services. These TSTSPs sit in panchayat

premises only and are available all the time like any other full time employee

7.1.16. Providing broadband connectivity Since GSWAN is available till block level only. To connect all the villages Airtel-VSAT is hired.

Airtel provides the satellite based broadband connectivity to all villages. Airtel has established a

network operation centre in state capital to monitor and provide support to all villages using e-

Gram services. Using this connectivity all villages can use webcast facility. From state Network

operations centre informational and educations webcasts are done continuously.

7.1.17. Providing Common Service Centre (CSC) As per central government’s initiative state has given contract to third parties to establish,

operate and maintain CSC is select villages. Although CSCs are operating in many villages, in

Dahod no CSCs are operating currently and in Banaskantha 30 CSC are operational

7.1.18. Providing Networked Accounting Software State government has hired a CA firm to develop accounting software to be used in all

panchayat at all levels. DGSM, the firm hired for this purpose has developed software called

Gujarat Rural Accounting Management (GRAM). Currently this software is being used at district

level only on a pilot basis. So at block and gram level, manual paper based accounting is done,

while at district level accounting is done in both GRAM and on paper. The software right now is

not networked hence entries made in district can’t be seen at state level. District email a file to

state which can be used to view the accounts of that district

7.1.19. Appointing Gram Mitra in villages to assist implementation State government has taken the initiative of appointing Gram Mitra who assists the government

officials and citizens in implementation of various schemes. 5 Gram Mitras are assigned per

village and they are paid an honorarium of Rs 1000/- pm. Currently, not all villages have gram

mitra working. In many village government is not been able to find suitable and willing candidate

for gram mitra



Summary of Initiatives and their status as observed

Table No. 7.1.19.1 Summary of PRI Initiatives No. Initiatives Current Status

1 Electrification work of Gram Panchayat (With the help of Jyotigram Yojana)

Process of electrification is complete but its 24 hrs availability is uncertain

2 Hardware & accessories-Computer ( with laser printer and UPS): Up to Gram Panchayat

Equipments are present at the Gram Panchayat but with minimal users

3 Touch Screen Kiosk ( Up to Taluka Panchayat )

Present at the Block level but villagers doesn’t know how to use

4 Furniture for Back ward Gram Panchayat

Available

5 Laptop & Projector ( Up to District Panchayat )

Available and used

6 Video Conference Facility ( Up to TalukaPanchayat ) Available and used by the villagers

7 GSWAN Connectivity ( Up to Taluka Panchayat )

Available but due to lower band width, connection fails during work

8 Technical Manpower Support ( Up to Taluka Panchayat )

Available and but the number is very less

9 Technical Support & Training Service Provider ( Up to Gram Panchayat)

Available but are not skilled enough to serve properly

10 Broadband Internet Connectivity up to Gram Panchayat

Available but problem with its band width

11 Common Service Center Contract is given to the third party and the implementation is in process

12 Gujarat Rural Accounting management (GRAM ) ‘ Double Entry Accounting System’ for Gram Panchayat

Still not used widely and departments are doing manual accounting as well

13 Cyber Classes

The project is being run on pilot basis. The initiative is technically viable but Improving attendance of children is a big challenge for this scheme

14 Gram Mitra in all village (Up to Village Level)

In many villages government has failed to appoint gram mitra because of non availability of suitable and willing candidates



7.2. Extent of integration of NeGP initiatives with PRI

7.2.1. Integration with CSC

The CSC Scheme

Introduction

CSC is a part of the

National e-Governance

Plan under Bharat

Nirman and envisages a

three pillar model:

► State Data Centres

Back-end

► State Wide Area

Networks Delivery

Channel

► Common Services

Centres Front-end

Allocation of over Rs.27, 000 crores was provided to enable e-Governance Services to the

doorstep of rural citizens. 100,000 Common Services Centres were to be rolled out by 2008-09.

IL&FS was expended as a Program Management Agency to facilitate the rollout in a PPP format

Objective of CSC Initiative

The main objective was to integrate the commercial goals of private sector with the larger

development goals of the State as well as Nation. Hence, the Scheme is being deliberately

positioned as a multi-dimensional initiative and not just e-governance; not just information; not

just digital service, but all that and more based on the Community needs

Source: IL&FS CSC Report

Figure 24: The CSC Structure



The Focus area of the Scheme

The following were the focus areas of the scheme

► 100,000 Common Services Centers in Rural India - 10,000 in Urban India. One CSC to

service a cluster of 6 villages – 6,00,000 villages networked

► CSC's enabled with appropriate IT Infrastructure and Connectivity

► Scheme to be implemented in a PPP Framework

► Focus on Rural Entrepreneurship & Market Mechanisms

► Focus on Private Sector services for quick sustainability

► CSCs to be positioned as the retail extension outlets in rural India

► No Capital Subsidy but Guaranteed Revenue Support from State/Centre

The Initiators

► The Department of Information Technology, GoI : The Initiator and catalyst of the scheme,

that would provide policy & regulatory support coalesce central and state support for the

CSC Scheme

► The State Designated Agency (SDA): SDA was to ensure policy & regulatory Support at

State Level and facilitate integration of the existing ICT enabled government schemes into

the CSC. Selection of SCAs through a competitive bidding process.

► NLSA: Programme management support at the national level an d creation of a sustainable

business model

► Service Center Agency (SCA): SCA is required to select CSC locations, maintain and

manage CSC, promote use of CSC in rural areas through the state-level and local

promotion campaigns, interface with the state government and other stake holder. Finally

introduction of new services from time to time including aspects like service charges,

collection and remittance, quality of service parameters and protocols.



I

Gujarat, for CSC contracts state is

divided in 4 zones and contract for each

zone was given to a different company.

These companies are Reliance Infocom

(ADAG), 3i, CMS, and Infotech.

As per NeGP guideline, the CSC

Scheme has a 3-tier implementation

framework:

► At the first (CSC) level would be the

local Village Level Entrepreneur

(VLE- loosely analogous to a

franchisee), to service the rural

Figure 25: CSC: SHARED RETAIL EXTENSION MODEL

Source: IL&FS CSC Report




consumer in a cluster of 5-6 villages.

► At the second/middle level would be an entity termed the Service Centre Agency (SCA

loosely analogous to a franchiser) to operate, manage and build the VLE network and

business. An SCA would be identified for one or more districts (one district would cover

100-200 CSCs).

► At the third level would be the agency designated by the State- the State Designated

Agency (SDA) - to facilitate implementation of the Scheme within the State and to provide

requisite policy, content and other support to the SCAs.

Status of CSCs

Gujarat was the first state to

roll-out CSC programme

with connectivity in the

country. CSC uses the

connectivity available at the

e-Gram centers at the

Gram level. Contractually

CSC can deliver all G2C

services apart from, ROR

and electricity bill However

it was observed that only

B2C services are provided at all CSC throughout the state

Services provided by CSCs in Gujarat

i. Internet Surfing

ii. Online Payments and Bookings

iii. Online Banking

iv. Online Tax Return Filing

v. Obtaining and Renewal of Licenses and Permits

vi. Video Conferencing

vii. Information updates for agriculture and other key sectors

viii. Insurance Services

ix. E-tenders and online bidding

Figure 26: State Comparative CSC Roll out




x. Telemedicine

xi. E-newsletters and online subscriptions

xii. Photocopying facilities

xiii. DTP Services

The district-wise status of CSC is detailed below:

District Dahod:

In Dahod out of 210 CSCs are planned and rolled out as well. Contact is awarded to Reliance

Infocom. All the equipment has been bought and put in place. But as of now none of the CSCs

are working. The reason for delay in operation of CSC so far according to Reliance District

Operations Officer is unavailability of suitable and willing candidate for franchise. However, first

batch of VLEs is identified and their training is going on. First batch of CSCs is soon going to be

functional.

CSCs are planning to provide B2C services mainly. Like insurance, investments, banking,

mobile recharge, DTH connection, railways/air/hotel bookings etc. Here also they have not

reached an understanding with line departments on how to provide G2C services to citizens.

In Dahod CSCs will pay rent (Rs 500 pm), Electricity Charges (Rs 500 pm) and Broadband

charges (Rs 500-2500 pm depending on village population) to state department. Then Reliance

will charge a franchise fee and rest of earnings will go to operator

District Banaskantha:

Inception of CSC Initiative took place in January, 2008. In Gujarat, before awarding CSC

contracts, the state was divided in 4 zones and contract for each zone was given to a different

company (Reliance, 3i, CMS, InfoTech).

In Banaskantha, of the 392 mandated CSCs only 30 are operational. CMS has got rights to

operate CSCs in Banaskantha. CMS has the right to deliver all G2C services except Record of

Table No: 7.2.1 Roll out status of CSC in Gujarat Particulars Total Roll Out Operational Gujarat 6000 5870 NA Dahod 210 210 0 Banaskantha 392 392 30



Right and electricity bill collection. However, only B2C services are being provided currently. A

main contract is signed between the government and CMS. CMS in-turn has sub-contracted all

its B2C service offerings mentioned in the table below:

Table No. 7.2.2: Service delivery at CSC Sl. No.

Service delivered via CSC

Sub-Contracted service provider by CMS

1 Mobile Recharge All service providers 2 Direct-to-Home Tata Indicom 3 Rail Travel TravelRail 4 Bus Travel Red Bus

To conclude, very little has been achieved in terms of integration of CSC with e-GRAM, except

almost all CSCs operate from the panchayat building. Currently CSCs and e-GRAM provide

different set of services. eGRAM provides all G2C services and CSCs, B2C services only,

despite of contractually enabled to provide G2C services (apart from RoR and Electricity bill

payment). The CSCs needs to co-ordinate with the concerned line departments at the state and

the district level in order to provide G2C services. However it was observed that the CSC

operators in both the district have not been able to obtain any G2C services. It was ascertained

that the major issue in service delivery of G2C services through CSC would that be of

accountability. Integration of CSC and eGRAM may not be a precisely the best way forward as

all G2C services are been effectively provided via eGram. However division of tasks may be

considered, for instance G2G services may be tend to the CSC. Activities like data punching,

uploading plan-plus at the gram level etc can be undertaken at the CSC. This will also give heed

to the issue of data punching and timely availability of data at the Grass root level.

7.2.2. SWAN Integration As mentioned in section 6.1.7. GSWAN is provided till block level. GSWAN is currently

operational in all districts and all blocks along with video conferencing facilities provided to them.

Hence, In terms of GSWAN integration, it is integrated fully till block level. At gram level

broadband connectivity using Airtel VSAT is provided.

7.3. ICT Infrastructure Assessment State has taken many initiatives (see section 6.1) in terms of computerization of PRIs. Please

find below a quick assessment of what state has accomplished in terms of ICT infrastructure.



Currently, PR department has no servers of its own. It uses state/NIC servers to host its portals,

websites and other services

PR department has provided for 110 Computers at State level, 520 computers at district

panchayat level (20 per DP), and 896 computers at block level (4 per BP) and 13693 computers

(1 per GP). All computers are Pentium 4 processor equipped along with 100 GB memory and 15

inch color monitor along with standard equipments like ports, slots, modem etc. All computers

come preinstalled with windows XP operating system, Microsoft office 2003, Microsoft works

7.0, adobe reader, Trend Micro antivirus and other standard software and related software like

e-Gram etc.

Table No. 7.3.1: State ICT Assessment Quantity

Item Name State PR Department

District Panchayat

Block Panchayat

Gram Panchayat

High-end Server None None None None Low-end Server None None None None Computer 110 520 896 13693 Laptop 4 26 0 0 Printer 110 520 896 13693 CD Writer 110 520 896 13693 IP Phone 0 0 0 13693 Web Camera 2 26 224 13693 UPS 500VA 110 520 896 13693 Networked Panchayat Offices GSWAN-

26 GSWAN- 224

Airtel- VSat- 13693

Software Windows XP 110 520 896 13693 Microsoft Office 2003 110 520 896 13693 Microsoft Works 7 110 520 896 13693 Trend Micro Antivirus 110 520 896 13693 Indic 2003 110 520 896 13693 DTP 110 520 896 13693 e-Gram Software 110 520 896 13693

Infrastructure-District-Banaskantha: The state of Gujarat is marked its way forward with regards to ICT enablement. The impact of

the state initiative can be seen in the district of Banaskantha. The district is IT enabled at all

levels of Panchayat, i.e. District Panchayat, Block Panchayat and Gram Panchayat

► Connectivity is available in all 783 Gram Panchayats via Airtel VSAT. Further 10 grams

also have connectivity via GSWAN



► Provision of hardware is ensured at all levels including the GP to ensure ease of service

delivery to the Gram citizen at the GP level

► There are a total of 909 IT user in the district, of which 783 are in the Gram Panchayat

level, 76 at the taluka level and 50 in the district

(Details are provided in the Table below)

Table No. 7.3.2: ICT Assessment Banaskantha Item Name District Panchayat Block Panchayat Gram

Panchayat Database Server 1 0 0 File server 1 0 0 Personal Computer

Client Type I (configuration 1)

1.55 (40 in 2000,P3-64MB RAM 2. 15 (4+1kiosk-HCL-2005 RAM-256) 10 wipro-2008-RAM 512

36(after 2005) 783 (post 2005)

Laptop 1 0 0 Computer Accessories

Laser Printer I 25 24 638 +145 (inkjet printer)

DMP 5(4 not working) 0 0 Scanner 1 1 0 0 Bio metric device (Fingerprint scanner) 0 12(EM office) 0

CD Writer 45 24 783

External Storage Devices (Pen drives etc.)

a. 1-4GBmemory b. 10-1GB memory c. 2-1GBmemory

12 pen drive1GB memory 0

Web Camera 2 1 783 Photocopiers 1 12 0 Power Backup UPS 600VA 55(600VA) 36 783 Software (License software) OS Server 1 0 0 RDBMS 1 0 0 Office Suite 1 0 0 Connectivity Hardware Switch (Layer 2) 2 by 24port 12 by 8port 392 by 8 port Firewall 1 0 0 No. of IT Users 50 76 783 IT Readiness Networked Panchayat Offices 1 12 VSAT 783, 10

GSWAN Computer Room 1 12 0 Server Room 1 0 0



It was observed that, though the district is ICT enabled (hardware+ software) to the Gram level,

there are certain ICT needs that need to be addressed which are as follows:

► Updation & replacement of old hardware

► It was observed that most of the computers at the Taluka and Gram level were virus

infected and there was no anti virus server available at the district

► Further there are no computer rooms available at the Gram level

► Comprehensive data for training (type of trainings. No of people trained from each

department, no. of people to be trained) was not available.

Infrastructure-District-Dahod:

The impact of the states initiatives in terms of ICT capacity assessment can be seen in the

district of Dahod. The district is well-equipped in terms of hardware availability. Snapshot of the

ICT enablement of the state is provided in table no. 7.3.3

Table No. 7.3.3 ICT Assessment- Dahod

Item Name District Panchayat

Block Panchayat

Gram Panchayat

Database server 1 0 0 File Server 1 0 0 Personal Computers 10 14 458

Computer Accessories Printer 10 7 458 Webcams 459 Airtel Voip Phones 459 Sat Dish 459 UPS 10 7 459

Available Software Windows XP ✓ ✓ ✓ Office 2003 ✓ ✓ Indic 2003 (Gujarati Language Support)

✓ ✓ ✓

Trend Micro Antivirus ✓ ✓ ✓ DTP ✕ ✕ ✓ eGRAM Software ✕ ✕ ✓ National Panchayat Portal ✓ ✓ ✓ GRAM Accounting Software ✓ ✓ ✓ Gram Sabha Monitoring Portal ✓ ✓ ✓ E-Education Portal ✓ ✓ ✓



NREGA Portal ✓ ✓ ✓ Intra Health Portal, ✓ ✓ ✕ Socio-Economic Survey Portal,

✓ ✓ ✕

Live stock census Portal ✓ ✓ ✕ Krishi Mahotsav Portal ✓ ✓ ✕ Swagat Portal (CM Grievance Redressal)

✓ ✓ ✕

District Panchayat Portal ✓ ✕ ✕

7.4. Civil work Assessment Civil work assessment was carried out via 2 methods:

I. The district questionnaire

II. Physical verification in the Taluka/Gram visited in the districts

As per state authorities, all GPs have their own building since 2007. Only for the newly carved

panchayat after 2007 do not have panchayat building as of now. Please find below the civil

works assessment as was done in district studied.

District Dahod:

In Dahod, almost all gram panchayat

have own buildings. Out of 474 gram

panchayat, 459 have their own buildings.

Only 15 are without their own premises.

These 15 GPs were recently carved out

hence building for them is not yet made

for them. Based on what team saw

during their visits. The GP building was found in good condition and quality of building was

satisfactory.

Team also visited a PHC in Dedhawada in Devgarh Baria taluka. The team found that water

was leaking from roof in all rooms. It was informed that water proofing plan has been made and

submitted for approval.

During visits in Anganwadi and primary school in Piplod village the quality of civil works was

found satisfactory.

Table No. 7.4.1 Panchayat Premises Dahod

Tier Total no. of Panchayat

With Own Premises

ZP 1 1 BP 7 7 GP 474 459



District Banaskantha:

Banaskantha district is well-equipped

with civil work. The Panchayats

(District, Taluka and Gram) have their

own premises.

Details of the civil work are listed

below:

► It was confirmed at the district level, that some of the Gram/Taluka Panchayats may be

currently in rented premises on lieu of repair and maintenance worked carried out in the

Panchayat-owned premises

► It was observed that in case of group Panchayats the condition of the Panchayat house

was not fair to middling. For example the Panchayat house in Gela gram, of Tharad district

was not satisfactory

► Though there were computer rooms available in the two villages visited in Banaskantha

(Odhwa and Lakhni), proper computer table with separate units were not available

► Proper wiring at the Panchayat need to be considered.

Conclusion

It is apparent that Gujarat government has taken many initiatives to strengthen IT readiness of

government. Although many initiatives are implemented fully, there utilization is not optimum.

However, basic infrastructure is provided till lowest level and with little effort state can effectively

implement ICT related services for citizen.

In terms of NeGP initiatives, government has provided GSWAN till block level and is fully

integrated with Collectorate and other departments. CSCs are not operational in Dahod and in

Banaskantha also only 30 CSC (10%) are working. The CSCs are not providing all the services

initially envisaged. The government has provided all basic hardware to all gram panchayat, but

maintenance and timely upgradation of the same is something which needs to be looked at.

Table No. 7.4.2 Panchayat Premises

Banaskantha

Tier Total no. of Panchayat

With Own Premises

ZP 1 1 BP 12 12 GP 783 783



8. State Capacity Assessment Objective

In this section, assessment of capacity of districts in terms of manpower, quality of manpower,

skill level of manpower available is done. Their training needs and existing skill level in terms of

IT are also assessed in this section.

8.1. Capacity In order to assess the capacity of the Panchayats in the state of Gujarat, the study team has

met with all levels of Panchayati Raj. The objective of the meeting was to identify at all level, the

availability of manpower; IT related skill sets, training provisions & needs. The team has also

analyzed the trainings that have been provided to the officers at different levels of PRIs.

The study team has interacted with different levels of PRIs and observed that many sanctioned

posts were vacant at the DP/BP/GP and skilled manpower was not available to fill the vacant

posts. The officers present in the department were overburdened with the additional charges of

other departments, creating an impediment in work. At district level (DP), it was observed that

the Assistant Programmer post is a sanctioned post but currently the worker is hired on contract

for the 11 months. Similarly, the post of operator was sanctioned but currently the post is

vacant. The other departments at the DP have hired workers on contract and there was no

permanent staff for the department. This lack of manpower coupled with poor skill levels of

people created a huge gap in what is needed and what is available.

A similar kind of study was conducted at the e-Gram office of the DP/BP/GP and it was

observed that at the DLE was working on contract. At the block again manpower shortage was

observed. For example there is 1 TLE per 30 panchayat and at gram. In situation where quality

of people operating is already not good lot of troubleshooting calls are placed from VCE to

TLEs. This makes citizen service delivery very inefficient and faulty. The VCE working at the e-

gram office are franchise operator. Because of low volume of services initially, the revenue of

VCE is not much and for him the business model is unviable.



Capacity Assessment- Class 1 (Brief summary provided in table no. 7.1.1)



Capacity Assessment- Class 3 Continued



A common challenge listed by the PR and other line departments was that of shortage of

manpower at all levels. Document detailing the vacant posts at all levels (Class-1/2/3/4) were

obtained. A summary of the information derived from the data is provided in the tables below

(Banaskatha-table no. 7.1.1 and Dahod 7.1.2):

Table 8.1.1 Variances in Sanctioned and Filled posts- Banaskantha Post Class Sanctioned Filled Vacant

1 15 14 1 2 221 142 79 3 3013 2286 727 4 391 204 187 Total 3640 2646 994 Table No. 8.1.2 Variances in Sanctioned and Filled posts-Dahod

Particulars Sanctioned Filled Vacant Officer 14 9 5 Deputy Chitnis 13 7 6 Accountant 4 3 1 Deputy Accountant 3 3 0 Senior Clerk 25 18 7 Senior Accountant Clerk 8 7 1 Junior Clerk 38 26 12 Circle Inspector 1 1 0 Add. Assistant Engineer 5 4 1 Tracer 2 0 2 Officer Class II 10 8 2 Total 123 86 37



8.2. Skills and Capabilities The study team has observed that the there was a gap between the existing and the required

skill sets in the officials. There is an urgent need to address this gap between the skills required

and skill set available. It was observed that people hired to do their job at lower levels were not

skilled enough.

In terms of, skills available at District level, the Assistant Program Officer and District Level

Executive (DLE) are Diploma/ BCA or BE. At block level, Taluka Level Executive (TLE) and

Operator had a basic Hardware and Software with modest MS Office and Internet knowledge.

The hired IT staff (contract) is generally, certificate holders from various private institutes. The

authenticity of certificate is always questionable. Assessment of real IT capabilities on the basis

of a certificate is also very difficult.

8.3. Training The Government of Gujarat has taken several steps for the implementation of e-governance in

the State under the Panchayati Raj. Several training programs have been conducted for the 3-

tiers of Panchayati Raj under the ICT initiatives. These training programs are mainly for elected

members and they are taught about their roles, responsibilities, powers and administration etc.

For officer and staff IT training, state government has made the CCC+ and CCC certification

courses mandatory for the class 1, 2 and 3 officers at all levels. The courses and modules are

decided by the Government and the necessary classes and certificates are provided by the

ITI’s. The same is then submitted to the Government as a proof for getting promoted to the

upper level. The DLE’s are trained for several schemes such as National Panchayat Portal and

NREGS. The DLE then train TLEs and VCEs under them in their respective districts.

There are several training course being christened by the State Government in the universities

appointed for this. State has many institutes for training purposes such as Sardar Patel Institute

of Public Administration (SPIPA) and Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Application and Geo-

Informatics (BISAG).Apart from that, there are other training institutes at Junagadh, Bhavnagar,

Vadodara, Mehsana, Navsari and Gandhinagar.

Apart from that, training is also provided to VCE, Gram Mitra, talati, TSTSP, Assistant

programmer and nodal officers through BISAG studio using video conferencing.

Government has made provision to provide basic computer training of minimum 40 hours to

talati and minimum 20 hours for elected member of PRIs. So far, 11000 elected members are

trained under this initiative.



Pictures of Shashikunj training centre, Junagadh

At district and block level, conference halls were used to impart trainings to the officials. Some

of the training needs that were found out during the course of study are mentioned below:

I. Since all the IT applications are in English, training should be provided in the same

language

II. The e-Gram training has to be provided to the Talati as they use to keep and monitor all

the records.

III. Training has to be provided to the TLE’s about the new portals that are coming up and

changes being done in existing portals

IV. DLE need to trained from time to time about the new portals that are coming up and

changed being done in existing portals

V. There should be an ongoing training programs for the VCEs, Talatis and TLEs for

different portals

Conclusion

It can be said that in terms of manpower availability and recruitment, a proper demand

assessment is needed keeping in mind the population growth and other future needs.

Furthermore the training needs of officers, staff and IT staff are very different from each other

and they are not met effectively. Again a demand assessment of people and skills required can

be done keeping in view the service volume and number of services launched. Based on this

assessment appropriate staffing can be done.



9. Citizen Service Delivery Objective

In this section, various services currently delivered to citizen through various channels and

their model and sharing are discussed in brief. This section details find some of the high

volume services offered by PRIs and State Collectorate to citizens. The table contains

services offered, who is offering the service, delivery tier, revenue sharing and model adopted

to deliver these services

Table No. 9.1 Citizen service delivery channel, mechanism, service model and Revenue sharing

Citizen Service Name

Delivery Tier

Delivery Channel

Service Delivery Mechanism

Service Model

Revenue Sharing Model

Cost to citizen

Application / Issuance of Record of right(Khatauni)

GP/BP

e-Gram/ JanSewa Kendra

Dy Mamlatdar takes out the application and fee. Makes the records and EM Signs it. Dy EM delivers. Applicant applies at e-Gram. E-Gram logs the request in system. Request is opened at EM office, which authorizes the request. VLE gets the records in his system. Record is printed on pre-printed stationary and delivered to applicant

Through e-Gram, which is owned by government but operated by a private operator

8 Rs for e-Gram operator (VCE) + 2 Rs for State Government

10 Rs

Dues and recovery from land revenue perspective a. Issue of Citation b. Generation/Modification/Tracking of RC

GP Office

Talati collects the money and provides the receipt. It is all manual. Talati lists down manually all the names of people who have to pay the land taxes and then collects the amount throughout the year

Government Owned Free

Application for Soil Testing GP Office

Gram Sevak collects the soil sample, sends to laboratory at district level. Reports are sent back to gram sewak who delivers the report. Gram Sevak selects beneficiaries himself according to his target.

Government Owned

15 Rs for Government

Free if Gram Sewak asks farmer and Rs 15 if farmer wants test done out of





Delivery Tier

Delivery Channel


Service Model


Cost to citizen

Many a times beneficiary cal also approach gram sewak for soil testing. First time testing - Free. Second onwards - 25 Rs

turn or 2nd time

Application for registration of Births(Rural)/Issuance of Birth Certificate

GP Office

VLE enters details in e-Gram software and prints the certificate. Talati signs and issues the certificate. Certificate is paper. Original pre printed certificates are not used in Piplod



Rs 10

Application for registration of Deaths(Rural)/issuance of Death Certificates

GP Office

VLE enters details in e-Gram software and prints the certificate. Talati signs and issues the certificate

Through e-GRAM, which is owned by government but operated by a private operator


Rs 10

NREGA related services

GP Website

Citizens apply for work and receive the job card from Talati online. Citizen can start work on any works going on in village area. Muster rolls are filled by Talati manually (Manpower/skill related problems are not allowing online muster rolls). Payment is received via post office or nearest bank

Govt. Owned NA Free

Enrollment of students in primary education

GP Office

Primary teachers are enrolling students manually. They send their monthly report to blocks

Government Owned NA Free

Disease control GP Office Auxiliary Nurse

Midwife/MPHW are Government Owned NA Free





Delivery Tier

Delivery Channel


Service Model


Cost to citizen

program in rural areas

administering the treatment

SGSY related services GP Office

Gram sewak receives the applications. Submitted at block level, TDO scrutinizes and recommends to bank. Banks sanctions the loan and subsidy. TDO deposits the subsidy. Cheques is issued by bank and delivers the cheques to beneficiary directly


Registration of houses through Indira Awas Yojana

GP Office

Gram sewak fills the application on behalf of applicant. Talati receives and forwards it to TDO. TDO recommends and sends it to DRDA. DRDA sends to commissioner of rural development (State). CRD scrutinizes and approves the applicants falling under the criteria. If approved, citizen's name is added to the waiting list. For Existing list. Talati sends the next beneficiaries to TDO after physically verifying the beneficiaries. This list is then approved by TDO. Then booklets are filled in and approved and work order is released along with initial 5000 Rs cheques


Application and Issuance of Character Certificate

BP/GP Office

Citizen applies at block level. TDO/EM scrutinizes and issues the certificate

Through Jansewa Kendra. Government Owned

20 Rs goes to Jansewa Kendra. In case Jansewa

Rs 20





Delivery Tier

Delivery Channel


Service Model


Cost to citizen

Kendra is outsourced 12Rs for Company+ 8Rs for State

Application and Issuance of farmer Certificate

BP Office

Citizen applies at block level. TDO/EM scrutinizes and issues the certificate


20 Rs goes to Jansewa Kendra. In case Jansewa Kendra is outsourced 12Rs for Company+ 8Rs for State

Rs 20

Application and Issuance of professional tax collection certificate

GP Office

Professional tax is collected and recorded by talati. Income tax is collected at block level in Income tax office



Rs 10

Electricity bill collection services

BP Office

In some villages, VCE collects the money and issues the receipt. VCE gets 1% of total collection by GEB. In Dahod district it is still through post office 100%


NA Free

Application and issuance of Residence / Domicile certificate

BP Office

Citizen applies at block level. EM scrutinizes and issues the certificate


20 Rs goes to Jansewa Kendra. In some cases Jansewa Kendra

Rs 20





Delivery Tier

Delivery Channel


Service Model


Cost to citizen

are outsourced. In that case 12Rs for Company+8Rs for State

Application and Issuance of income certificate

GP/BP Office

For minor work talati issues the certificate based on estimation on land/job etc. For Loan and other things Mamlatdar can issue the certificate



Rs 20

Application and issuance of caste certificate(initial)s

GP/BP Office

For things like scholarship Talati can issue the certificate, otherwise TDO/EM issues the certificate



Rs 20

Information regarding the works, schemes implemented by the Panchayat

GP/BP Office

Talati/Gram Sewak can provide the information


To make available any of the copies of the Gram Panchayat document

GP Office Talati/Gram Sewak can provide the information


Downloading of BP Office Manual not yet online Governmen NA Free





Delivery Tier

Delivery Channel


Service Model


Cost to citizen

various application forms (a) New RC (b) Driving license (c ) SC/ST scholarship disbursement scheme (d) General scholarship disbursement scheme (e) Old age kisan pension scheme (f) Old age pension (g) Ration Card (h) modification of ration card (i) Election photo id-card (j) New connection for domestic and business purposes (k) Grievance handling, filing & tracking

t Owned

Issuance of New Ration Card

BP Office

Dy EM Receives the applications, gets EMs approval, Operator prints the card gets signed by EM and delivers to citizen



Rs 20

Senior Citizen Certificate BP Office

Dy EM Receives the applications, gets EMs approval, Operator

Through Jansewa Kendra.

20 Rs goes to Jansewa

Rs 20





Delivery Tier

Delivery Channel


Service Model


Cost to citizen

prints the card gets signed by EM and delivers to citizen

Government Owned

Kendra. In case Jansewa Kendra is outsourced 12Rs for Company+ 8Rs for State

Minority Certificate BP Office

Dy EM Receives the applications, gets EMs approval, Operator prints the card gets signed by EM and delivers to citizen



Rs 20

Modification of Ration Card BP Office

Ration card and supporting documents are submitted in EM Office. Approved by EM, Operator makes changes and EM again signs it. Delivered to citizen



Rs 20

Water Tax Collection GP Office

Talati Collects and Gram panchayat retains it. 100% for Gram Panchayat


House Tax Collection GP Office

Talati Collects and Gram panchayat retains it. 100% for






Delivery Tier

Delivery Channel


Service Model


Cost to citizen

Gram Panchayat

Sanitation Tax GP Office



Street Light Tax GP Office



9.1. Initiatives by PRIs District of Junagarh has created a portal called “Vikas Path”. This portal is running on a pilot

basis in District. This portal contains details of all the developmental work going on in district.

The portal also monitors the progress of all these works going on. In addition to that Vikas Path

has details of all the beneficiaries of IAY, Sardar Awas Yojana and Ambedkar Awas Yojana.

This portal is being used by citizens and officials of Junagarh and portal has been successful so

far. PR department plans to introduce similar portal in all districts in phase-wise manner

9.2. Initiatives by State impacting service delivery to rural populace ► Jansewa Kendra, operated by Collectorate office in each district and block is providing

services to citizens in orderly and efficient manner. Citizens are using these centers in big

way to avail the services.

► Starting CSCs in designated villages is one such initiative which is opening a plethora of

service to citizen. Through CSCs, third party services like mobile recharge, financial

services, railways/air/hotel booking, LPG booking etc. Currently, in state all CSCs are not

operational

► E-Gram is one such initiative impacting service delivery to citizens by bringing many

services to the door step of citizen like birth/death certificates and so on.

► Gram Sachivalaya is another very ambitious initiative by state PR department. It is the

vision to create a administrative setup in such a way that it can take most of its decision

independently and provide most of the services to citizens from there itself

► Kiosks are provided to all blocks to offer information to citizen about schemes, services.

Citizen can access procedure, documents required and other related information required

to avail services. Team observed in its visit that kiosk was not installed by block officials for

the fear that it might go wrong or people will manhandle it.



Conclusion In state, already many services are being offered using mainly four types of models of delivery. These models are Manual method, e-Gram, Jan Sewa Kendra and CSC. Although many CSC are not operational and those that are operational are also not delivering all mandated services. In e-Gram, Jan Sewa Kendra and CSC models, the private partnership is included in some part of delivery. In CSC mostly, everything owned is of third party. In e-Gram operator are entrepreneur sharing a part of revenue. In Jan Sewa Kendra, the operators are provided by third party and are salaried by the same party.



10. Way Forward During the study phase in the state of Gujarat it was obtained that the state of Gujarat has

robust administrative setup with supporting infrastructure in place to effectively carry out its

functions. It has paved its way ahead for IT implementation in governance and citizen services.

All Districts and Talukas are connected through Gujarat State Wide Area Network and all gram

Panchayats are connected via broadband VSAT. PRI in the state is rather evolved. Devolution

of 19 activities to PRI (funds, functions and functionaries) has commenced & PRIs play major

role in G2G services such as planning, implementation, fund flow & monitoring and also in G2C

services to citizens. However there are certain needs of the state, which when met will enable

the State of Gujarat to in achieving e-Governance to its optimum potential. The needs and

expectations from ePRI are listed below:

► Adequate, skilled and trained manpower

► Timely and quick IT support and Maintenance of IT hardware’s

► Increase bandwidth to ensure optimum connectivity at all level

► Need for integration of data across departments and across tiers in the same department to

enable timely data availability and optimum data utilization

► A single portal that enables delivery of all service/scheme of various line departments at

the Gram level

► Multiple and alternate channels of information dissemination to enable optimum scheme-

service knowledge of the citizen

► An grievance handling system at the Gram level that has provision of bottom-top and top-

bottom communication

► Ensuring optimum utilization of IT infrastructure by providing more services at a single

point of contact- one-stop-shop ( Example: e-Gram ) at the Gram level for the citizen to

gratify his service & information needs



10.1. Services finalized for Process re-engineering While following the methodology of services identification (as given in section 4.3) the team

kept following four criteria in mind.

► Volume of service request generated

► Criticality of service for citizen

► Revenue potential for government

► Ease in providing the service to citizen

After meeting various stakeholders, the discussion were held to understand each service

from above aspects and services were finalized for further study.

To identify new and existing services, the services which are already provided by PRIs in

some way in all or some districts are considered existing, like birth/death certificate, IAY,

NREGA etc. Services which are provided by EM office/telephone office are considered new

services to be studied as per need assessment of the citizens.

10.1.1. Existing Services Table No. 10.1.1.1 List of existing Services

Service Name Rationale 1 Application/Issuance of Record of

right(Khatauni) Critical/Volume is high

2 Application. Issuance of farmer certificate

Frequency of Service request for the Certificate is high. The certificate is utilized during application of loans to avail schemes/benefits extended by the bank for farmers

3 Application for Soil Testing

Volume/criticality. Each farmer in the village needs a soil health card, which can enable him to get a crop loan, fertilizer loan etc. The soil testing is a pre-requisite for soil health card

4 Application for registration of Births Rural)/Issuance of Birth Certificate

Volume/criticality: The birth certificate enables receipt of age-specific benefits, example: senior citizen benefits could be availed on the basis of a birth certificate

5 Application for registration of Deaths Rural)/issuance of Death Certificates Volume/criticality

6 Application for Job Card Criticality. A job card is a pre-requisite for job allocation under the NREGA.

7 Enrolment of student in primary education

Criticality. Enrolment of student in primary education will enable to achieve SSA

8 Disease control program in rural areas Criticality. This program / process helps ensure prevention of diseases in the rural area and/or to treat common diseases at an early stage

9 Registration of houses through Indira Awas Yojana Criticality/Volume/Need of the Villagers



Table No. 10.1.1.1 List of existing Services Service Name Rationale

10 Application and Issuance of Tax collection certificate

Criticality. Tax is a "money-related matter" wherein a citizen pays and the government is earning, hence transparency is of utmost importance. It is also important for the levels above the GP to ascertain the task collection patters in a particular village

11 Electricity bill collection services Volume. It is an essential service which all household in the villages of Gujarat utilize.

12 Character Certificate Volume

13 Information regarding the works schemes implemented by the Panchayat

Criticality. Information dissemination is of utmost importance for the successful implementation of any service/scheme. Further it was ascertained during our study that the Gram Citizen has no/little awareness of schemes/services.

14

Downloading of various application forms (a) New RC (b) Driving license (c) SC/ST scholarship scheme (d) General scholarship scheme (e) Old age kisan pension scheme (f) Old age pension (g) Ration Card

Volume/Criticality/Requirement of Gram Citizen



Examples of some of the Formats which are used at the PRIs are shown below:

1. Religious Minority Certificate



2. Duplicate Ration Card



3. Socially Backward Class



4. Schedule Tribe Certificate



5. Domicile and Age Certificate



6. Income Certificate



7. Birth Certificate



8. Death Certificate



10.1.2. New Services The new services were chosen based on citizen needs derived at the three Gram Sabhas

conducted in the state and through Focus group discussions conducted with multiple beneficiary

groups. The services chosen are not only high on need from a citizen perspective, but are also

not delivered at the gram level currently and can be easily done so. Brief descriptions of the

new services are provided below:

I. Issuance of Ration Card: Ration card is applied and issued at the Taluka level from the Jan

Seva Kendra, which falls under the office of the collector. Any new application/modification of

application need be done from the Taluka level.

II. Application and Issuance of Caste certificate: Issued at the Jan Seva Kendra that falls under

the Dy. Mamlatdar

III. Income certificate: The citizen needs to take initial certification from the Talati and then

proceed to the TDO (Banaskantha) and Mamlatdar (Dahod). The possibility of introducing an

electronic signature system may be explored, that would enable receipt of certificate at the

Gram level.

IV. PAN card: Is an important document for identity purpose. Currently it is not delivered through

PRI and issued by the Income Tax department either physically or online

V. Grievance handling system: No grievance handling system in place.

VI. Telephone bill payment is currently done either via post office or the telephone Bhavan. A

facility of paying telephone bills similar to that of electricity bill payment may be considered.

The reasons of prioritizing these services as the wish-list services is listed below in Table 10.1.2.1

Table No. 10.1.2.1 Citizen wish-list services Services Name Rationale 1 Issuance of Ration Card Criticality/Volume

2 Issuance of Caste certificate

Criticality/Volume: Many benefits under schemes/services have provision for SC/ST etc. This certificate enables citizen eligibility for a particular service under specific category

3 Application Issuance of income certificate

Criticality/Volume: Income certificate forms the basis of loan for various purposes from the bank

4 PAN card Criticality: Important document from the income tax perspective. Future volume can be expected

5 Automatic Grievance handling system

Criticality: It was observed during the study period that communication is most often “bottom-top" there is no "top-bottom communication channel.

6 Telephone Bill Volume/Requirement of Gram Citizen



11. Annexure

11.1. List of interviewees

At state Level:

No Name Designation Department Level 1 Dr. Varesh Sinha Pr Sec (PR) Panchayati Raj State 2 Mr. Rajnish Mahajan SIO Gujarat NIC State 3 Mr. K. M. Patel Deputy Sec (PR) Panchayati Raj State

4 Mr. S. K. Huda OSD (e-GRAM) Development Commissionarate State

5 Mr. Vipul Mitra Development Commissioner

Development Commissionarate State

6 Mr. Dipesh Dave State NGO Coordinator Health State

7 Mr. P. G. Trivedi Dy Secretary Ministry of Youth and Sports State

8 Mr. F. N. Vasava OSD PYKKA Sports Authority of Gujarat State

9 Mr. A. M. Pathan Secretary Sports Authority of Gujarat State

10 Mr. Mehul Kumar NOC Manager Airtel State

11 Mr. Neelkanth Matter Technical Support (HCL) HCL State

12 Mr. Shailesh Shah Technical Director NIC State 13 Mr. Amit Shah ROR In charge NIC State

14 Mr. H. N. Chhibber Additional Commissioner

Rural Development (NREGA) State

15 Mr. Suhag Oza Project executive NREGA State

16 Mr. P. L. Darbar Additional Commissioner

Rural Development (IAY) State

17 Mrs. Rita Teotia Commissioner and Pr Sec Rural Development State

18 Mr. G. K. Rathore Chitnis Rural Development (SGSY) State

19 Mr. P. M. Asari Joint Secretary Agriculture State 20 Dr. Ashok Patel Director SAMETI State 21 Mr. D. V. Barot Dy Director Horticulture State 22 Mr. Bala State Nodal Officer Agriculture State 23 Mr. S. K. Advani Dy Director Agriculture State

24 Mr. H. K. Wadhvaniya Joint Director/Dy Director Pulses/Agriculture State

25 Mr. S. N. Dave Additional Secretary Panchayati Raj State 26 Mrs. A. S. Aulakh DDO Gandhinagar State

27 Mr. P. B. Mody Assistant Development Commissioner

Development Commissioner State

28 Mr. A. M. Tiwari Secretary Tribal Development State



No Name Designation Department Level 29 Mr. D R Patel Under Secretary Agriculture (RKVY) State 30 Mr. Jignesh Senior Consultant DSAG State 31 Mrs. J. K. Patel Dy Secretary Tribal Development State

32 Mr. M. A. Gandhi Additional Director Women and Child Development State

33 Mr. S. B. Garasia Dy Secretary Social Education and Literacy State

34 Mr. H J Shah Joint Secretary Land Records State 35 Mr. Rinish Bhatt SO Land Records State 36 Mr. Umesh Kansagar Office Superintendent Land Records State

37 Mr. A D Patel Finance and Accounts Officer Land Records State

38 Mr. Vipin Officer in Charge (Planning) Land Records State

39 Mr. D R Sharma State Project Office Land Records State 40 Mr. S R Patel Joint Secretary Social Justice State 41 Mr. V N Maira Principal Secretary Planning State

42 Mr. V M Shah Chief Accounts Officer

Social Education and Literacy State

43 Mr. Brahmbhat PMGSY Officer Road and Building State 44 Mr. Bharat Somani Ex. Engineer Water Board State 45 Mr. D K Khatri Dy Ex. Engineer Water Board State

46 Mr. Sanjay Nandan Commissioner (MDM & RMSA)


47 Mr. V M Shah Chief Accounts Officer


48 Mr. Dulera Planning Officer Social Education and Literacy State



In Dahod No Name Designation Department Level 1 Mr. R.M.Jadhav Collector Dahod DP 2 Mr. Nalin Thaker DDO Dahod DP 3 Mr. Upadhaya Dy.DDO Panchayat & Revenue DP 4 Mr. R.A. Bhedi DSO Panchayat & Revenue DP 5 Mr. Kamal N Pandiya DIO NIC DP 6 Mr. J.J.Parmar DLE e-gram DP 7 Mr. S.J. Chaudhary Account Officer Accounts DP

8 Mr. Balwant Singh Chawda Director DRDA DP

9 Mr. P.M. Tawiyad DAO Agriculture DP 10 Mr. Kumar Gaurav Program Officer NRHM DP

11 Mrs. Daksha Ben Parmar President District Panchayat DP

12 Mr. P. M. Shangana Program Officer NREGS DP 13 Mr. Amar Singh President Devgarh Baria BP 14 Mr. V.P.Patel TDO Devgarh Baria BP 15 Mr. R.B. Rathod Ext. Officer Agriculture BP 16 Mr. Fahad Alam BHO Incharge Health BP 17 Mr. G. K. Damor ATDO Panchayat BP 18 Mr. V.C. Raoulji Ext. Officer IRD BP 19 Mr. U.S. Mehta Account Officer Accounts BP 20 Mr. G.J. Patel Ext. Officer R&B BP 21 Mr. D.B. Baria Statistical Officer Statistics BP 22 Mr. Prajapati Dy. Mamlatdar Tribal BP 23 Mr. R.C. Vasai Jr. Clerk Tribal BP 24 Mr. Khamar Mamlatdar Mamlatdar office BP

25 Mr. Mahendra N. Varia Dy. Mamlatdar Mamlatdar office BP

26 Mr. Babu Bhai Parmar Dy. Mamlatdar Mamlatdar office BP 27 Mr. Taviad Talati e-gram GP 28 Mr. Kamal VCE e-gram GP 29 Mr. C.K. Chawda Program Officer DRDA DP 30 Mr. H.D.Shah Ex. Engineer R&B DP 31 Mr. Cutlerywala SO R&B DP 32 Mr. Umang Additional Engineer MI DP 33 Mr. Joshi Sr. Clerk Revenue DP

34 Mr. Khaped Sr. Clerk Panchayat & Establishment DP

35 Mr. Vasaiya AO Administration DP

Mrs. DB Rathod CDHO Health DP

Mr. Ranawat ICDS Woman & Child welfare DP

Mrs. Sisodiya ICDS Woman & Child welfare DP

Mr. Parmar Sr. Clerk Social Justice DP



No Name Designation Department Level

Mr.S. N. Desai AO Agri DP

Mr. R.M.Jadhav Collector Dahod DP

Mr. Naresh Patel Officer SSA Education DP

Ms. Deepmala Officer SSA Education DP

Mr. Ishwar Officer SSA Education DP

Mr. Babu bhai Sarpanch Panchayat GP



In Banaskantha No Name Designation Department Level 1 Mr. R.J. Patel Collector Collector DP

2 Mr. Dalsang Bhai J. Patel President Panchayat DP

3 Mr. A.M. Parmar DDO Panchayat DP 4 Mr. R. Patel Director DRDA DP

5 Mr. Damor Dy. DDO-Development Development DP

6 Mr. H.J. Jindal Asst Director Agriculture Agriculture DP

7 Dr. K.G. Brahmaxatri Deputy Director-Animal Husbandry Animal Husbandry DP

8 Mr. S.K. Barsaat District Accounts Officer Accounts DP

9 Mr. M.B. Gadhvi Assistant Statistical Officer DRDA DP

10 Mr. K.A. Pota District primary education officer Education DP

11 Mr. Dharmesh Vyas Sr. Clerk Education DP 12 Ms. Amisha Patel OIC-MIS Education DP 13 Mr. Bhavesh Patel Back-up DLE e-Gram DP 14 Mr. Ashutosh Purohit Back-up DLE e-Gram DP 15 Mr. K.S. Patel (CDHO) Health DP

16 Dr. N.K. Garg (EMO and Member Secretary IDSP) Health DP

17 Mr. P.J. Kharadi Epidemiologist cum Sanitary supervisor Health DP

18 Mr. P.V. Nathani Project Administrator-TSP Health DP

19 Mr. Dilip Rana IAS IAS DP 20 Ms. Bindu Desai Mukhiya Sewak ICDS DP 21 Mr. Mukesh Sharma DIO NIC DP 22 Mr. B.K. Tubiyar DSO Panchayat DP 23 Mr. Piyush Modi Dy Chitins Panchayat department DP 24 Mr. Nayan S Soni Computer Operator Panchayat DP

25 Mr. Patel Executive engineer-PMGSY R&B DP

26 Mr. L.R. Damor Dy.DDO-Revenue Revenue Department DP

27 Mr. B. D. Parmar Extension Officer-Training and Visit Agriculture GP

28 Mr. Prakash Parmar Citizen-Gram-Jorapura Citizen GP

29 Mr. Bharat Thakur citizen Nava-Gram Citizen GP

30 Mr. Amulak Bhai Gawaria and family Citizen Citizen GP

31 Mr. Hemraj Patel Citizen Citizen GP 32 Mr. Ajmal J. Narkhan Citizen Citizen-handicap GP 33 Mr. Raisang Bhai Citizen Citizen-Lakhni GP



No Name Designation Department Level 34 Mr. Nagji Bhai Parmar Citizen Citizen-Lakhni GP

35 Mr. Manjula Bhen Suthar Citizen Citizen-Lakhni GP

36 Mr. Shrimali Headmaster-Primary school-Odhwa Education GP

37 Mr. Sanjay Bhai Patel Head Teacher-Primary school Education GP

38 Mr. Vasant Bhai Pate Teacher-Primary school Education GP

39 Mr. Jagatsinh L. Rajput

Principal-Secondary Education Education GP

40 Mr. U.V. Patel Talati-Odhwa Panchayat GP 41 Mr. Haresh Waghela VCE-Shamsherpura Panchayat GP 42 Ms. Gomati Ben Patel VCE-Lakhni Panchayat GP

43 Mr. Naveen Bhai Shah Sarpanch-Lakhni Panchayat GP

44 Mr. Jitu Bhai Parmar VCE-Wasna Watam Panchayat GP

45 Mr. Ashok Bhai Panchal Sarpanch-Odhwa Panchayat GP

46 Mr. Dhirajlal J. Trivedi Talati-Lakhni Panchayat GP 47 Mr. A.D. Ghassrba (Dy accountant Accounts TP

48 Mr. B.K. Patel (Extension Officer-Training and Visit Agriculture TP

49 Mr. Deepak Suthar Airtel DRM Airtel TP 50 Mr. K.D. Rank Mamlatdar-Palanpur Collectorate TP

51 Mr. K. A. Patel Dy. Mamlatdar-Palanpur Collectorate TP

52 Mr. Kalaji Thakur Circle officer Collectorate TP 53 Mr. Amreesh Panchal Project Manger-CMS CSC TP

54 Mr. Mahendra Bhai raval (Extension Officer) DRDA TP

55 Mr. Prakash K.Joshi Gram Sevak-Gherda DRDA TP

56 Mr. H. C. Solanki Taluka Education inspector Education TP

57 Mr. M.P. Sadhu BRC Co-coordinator Education TP 58 Mr. RasikLal D Jani Sr. Clerk Education TP 59 Mr. Suresh B. Trivedi Jr. Clerk Education TP 60 Mr. R.N. Raval FA BHO Health TP 61 Mr. M.R. Jiwrani BHO Health TP

62 Mr. K.D. Rajput

Block information, education and communication officer

Health TP

63 Smt. M. R. Momin CDPO ICDS TP

64 Mr. Babupuri G.J. Swami President Panchayat TP

65 Mr. Vinod B Suthar TDO Panchayat TP 66 Mr. S.A. Panchal Dy TDO Panchayat TP



No Name Designation Department Level

67 Ms. Meena Jhadav Sakhi Mandal- Pramukh Panchayat TP

68 Mr. Chandu Bhai Dagla

Ass. Block Programme officer Panchayat TP

69 Mr. Vipul Sr. Clerk Panchayat TP 70 Mr. J.M. Joshi state union VP-Talati Panchayat TP 71 Mr. K.B. Thukar SDC-R&B R&B TP 72 Mr. G.P. Dagla MTP Officer TP



11.2. Interview questionnaires for each interview group

File 1: Banaskantha District Questionnaire

Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet File 2: Gramsabha Questionnaire Lakhni & Odhwa

Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet File 3: Gramsabha Questionnaire Piplod

Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet File 4: Dahod District Questionnaire

Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet File 5: Gujarat State Questionnaire

Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet

11.3. Minutes of key meetings held Meeting with Principal Secretary, Panchayati Raj, Gujarat

Agenda To give an idea to the client about the agenda and objective of ePRI and

get a basic understanding of the client’s expectation

Date 22 June 2009

Venue NIC-Gandhinagar, New Sachivalaya

Entity Attendees

Client Mr. Varesh Sinha (Principle Secretary-Panchayat Raj), Mr. Rajneesh

Mahajan (Sr. Technical Director), Mr. Shailesh O Shah (Technical

Director), Mr. S. K. Huda(OSD Project eGram), Mr. Vipul Mitra(

Development Commissioner)

Project Team Jyoti Sinha, Abid Husain, Sunayana Padhi

Key points of discussion

• What is the CSC role and what is the role of eGram

• CSC was the medium to get internet connectivity to the state, however state if Gujarat

already had connectivity, Thus eGram ended up providing connectivity to the CSC.

Thus what are the means to make CSC viable

• The need is for a basket approach from government of India. Wherein an array of

services should be provided by the centre and the state should be given the liberty to

pick and choose the services on a need basis.

• Gujarat is yet to cover 5,000 villages

• Gujarat’s needs are one level higher that what the government is ready to provide us

funds for. Gujarat PRIs don’t need computers, their needs are: good speed,

connectivity, Software, Applications, Training etc

• Recurring costs like repair and maintenance funds are the need for the state.

• Installation of crude rustic computers and hardware at the village, so that the cost of

maintenance and repair is reduced.

• Standardize purchase system

• Sustenance is the main issue/service need for Gujarat.

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

Gujarat


Meeting with Asst Dev Commissioner, Panchayati Raj

Minutes of the Meeting of the: discussion with the ADC-Panchayat Raj

Objective: To understand and assess the involvement (current and possible) of PRI and ICT at all levels in the function of budgeting, planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting and accounting. Further to list down the challenges and the needs.

Date: 29 June 2009 Location: 2nd Floor, Block 16, Old Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar

Scheduled Time Actual Time Start Stop Total Time Start Stop Total Time

1200hours 1500hours 3 1200hours 1530hours 3.5

Attendees

Client: Mr. Prakash Modi (Assistant Development Commissioner) Project Team: Jyoti Sinha, Abid Husain, Sunayana Padhi

Handouts/ Documentation Shared

Client: Chief Minister online Grievance Redressal System, Constitution of District Planning

Committees, The Gujarat Government Gazette, Land Revenue received (2002-07), Gramsabha

achievements

EY:

Discussed Items

Nineteen of the twenty nine activities have been transferred to the PRI, of which 14 are

completely transferred and 5 partially

• Consultants like EY should be allocated to the state on a full-time basis. The centre

should give choices and the state should be given the choice to pick up from the

Panel of available consultants.

• NIC has done a brilliant job, but is in a fix and has its limitations because it is

Government owned.


Gujarat


Any power that the state wants to withdraw from PRI can be done only after consultation State

Panchayat Council

There is a training institutes for PRIs, which conducts trainings like “Mukhiya Training” etc

At the district level there need to be seventeen members for population up to 4lakhs and two

members for every 1lakh population over 4lakhs. At the Taluka level demands fifteen members

up to a population of 1lakh and two members for every twenty five thousand population over

that

Executive powers at the District, Taluka and Gram level are with the DDO, TDO and sarpanch

respectively

Financial resources of PRIs arrive through channels like, local fund cess on land revenue,

royalty on sand and soil, stamp duty, land revenue grants, state equization fund, tax on building

and land etc

The local fund examiner (Class I officer) send a monitoring report to the Panchayat Raj

Committee. He is supported by a class II officer and an audit committee.

The funds received by the Government of India are allocated to the District, Taluka and Gram

level in the ratio of 40%, 30% and 30% respectively. This fund is over and above the funds that

are received under each scheme

A double entry cash based accounting system is followed, however a transition from cash to

accrual is in progress

GAM(Gujarat asset management) which will facilitate mapping and evaluating for assets

available at all three levels of PRIs has been initiated from the current year

There is 5 Gram Mitras per each village Panchayat. Each one is allotted for the following

departments- Social Justice, Agriculture, Education, Health and Rural development

Several other state run schemes like, SAMRAS GRAM Yojana, Panchvati Yojana, Teerth Gram

Yojana, Nirmal Gujarat etc have been initiated in the state


Gujarat


State Workshop

Minutes of the Meeting of the: State Workshop Presentation


Gujarat


Discussed Items

It was suggested that one best and one worst block/gram be chosen to draw

comparisons and benchmark within the state

Presentation by the Department of Rural Department:

NREGA is implemented all over the state

• NREGA is 100% IT enabled in states like Kerela, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh,

however in Gujarat NREGA is 100% IT enabled only in a few grams remaining are

10-20% IT enabled

• Our TLE and VLE are not trained, however DLE are trained and will soon there will

be a “trickle-down” effect

• PMGSY is categorized under Road and Building department for the state of Gujarat

and not under the DRD

• IGNOAPS scheme is not been extended in the state of Gujarat

• Our main problem is unavailability of trained manpower

• When we hire untrained manpower and train them they don’t stay long enough. Thus

we have to get new manpower and re-train. This leads to a time-delay in training

dissemination. Thus we need a solution(s) to retain trained manpower

• It was raised by the EY team that, attrition of manpower could be due to inadequate

remuneration. It was informed that the trained manpower is provided Rs. 1000 per

month and they have to generate income on their own. The same can be done by

providing services like writing letters on behalf of the villagers, reading notices etc

any work that can be carried out by a literate individual

• Further if the trained manpower is able to generate man days beyond a threshold

he/she is awarded 10% of those man days

• Data collection activity is carried out at the village level. Usually a data collector and

data entry operator are two different individuals. Most often the data is misinterpreted

leading to incorrect data entry. By the time the mistake is identified the information is

already locked by the centre. The state then needs to take special permission to be

able to make any rectifications. There should be some delegation at the state level to

make such rectifications

• The language of the program is in English and that is of major concern. Program in

the local language would be ideal.

Department of Sports

• Activities are limited to the district level

• Implementation of PYKKA from this financial year. This will be the beginning for us

and we will need connectivity right from the inception to enable MIS

• As far as ICT is concerned we need to start from level zero.


Gujarat


Date: 24 June 2009 Location: Circuit house, Meeting Room,

Gandhinagar

Scheduled Time Actual Time

Start Stop Total

Time

Start Stop Total Time

1100hour

s

1400hour

s

3 1100hour

s

1330hour

s

2.5

Attendees

Client: Please refer Annexure 1

Project Team: Jyoti Sinha, Abid Husain, Sunayana Padhi


Client: Presentation-Department of Rural Department/ Demo-Working of “Vikas Path”

EY: State-Workshop PPT

Follow- up Action Points from previous meetings (if any)

SR. No. Follow up Action Items Responsibility Target Date Status

1. To customize the presentation as per the state whilst keeping the essence

Mr. Rajnish Mahajan

23rd June 2009 Completed

2. To conduct the workshop Field Team 24th June 2009 Completed

Based on the discussion the following line of action has been decided:-

Sr. No. Action Items Owner Due Date Requirement 1. To schedule meetings with all

Line Departments PR Deputy Secretary and Field Team-EY

24th June 2009

Details of Attendees: Client


Gujarat


Sr. No Name Designation 1 Rajnish Mahajan Sr. Technical Director & State Informatics Officer 2 K M Patel MO PR-Deputy Secretary 3 S.K. Huda OSD Project eGram 4 Shailesh O Shah NIC-Technical Director 5 R G Bhatt SO 6 D V Mewada Dy Director (SMC) 7 P M Mani Joint Secretary 8 D R Patel Under Secretary 9 D V Barot Dy Director 10 K N Pandiye DIO 11 Mukesh Sharma DIO 12 R A Bhedi DSO 13 H S Tubiyar DSO 14 A M Parmar DDO 15 J J Parmar DLE 16 N H Soni Assistant Programmer 17 B A Patel TLE 18 Suhag Oza Project Executive 19 P D Zadafia Dy Director 20 Neelkanth Mattar Project Leader 21 C B Patel Director 22 A D Patel Deputy Secretary 23 H N Chhibber Add Commissioner 24 A M Barman DDO 25 Atul Khunti Tech Director 26 M M Pathan Secretary 27 P G Trivedi Dy Secretary 28 M J Shah Dy Secretary 29 F N Vasava OSD 30 G M Vala Addl Director 31 S R Kosambi Asst Director


Gujarat


Dahod Workshop

Minutes of the Meeting of the: Workshop held in Dahod Zilla Panchayat

Objective: To have an interactive session with district Panchayat officials where Panchayat officials are sensitized about the study being conducted, know the expectations project team has from them and have their queries about project answered

Date: 8 July 2009 Location: 1st Floor, Meeting Hall, Zilla Panchayat


Start Stop Total Time Start Stop Total Time

1300hours 1500hours 2 1330hours 1530hours 2 Hours

Attendees

Client: DDO, Dy DDO, DRDA, DSO, CDHO, Accounts Officer, DIO, DLE, and 11 Other District Officials Project Team: Jyoti Sinha, Abid Husain


Client: A presentation on Dahod eGRAM and other ICT related information

EY: District Workshop Presentation

Discussed Items Welcome and Introduction of EY team and project to attendees Presentation by EY team about project, objectives, deliverables, methodology and expectations from District officials

A brief question answer session, in which questions related to project were explained and answered

Presentation by DSO about Dahod Panchayat and ICT infrastructure and services running in Dahod

Vote of thanks by DDO and closure of meeting


Gujarat


Banaskantha Gramsabha in Deesa

Minutes of the Meeting of the: Gram Sabha Meeting-Lakhni Gram-Deesa Block-Banaskantha

Objective: To conduct a Gram Sabha, to ascertain the awareness levels, Information dissemination, service delivery pattern and the challenges faced at the Gram level. Further to Sensitize the citizen, talati and the sarpanch of the various schemes and services extended by the PRI

Date: 21July 2009 Location: Gram Panchayat Ghar, Lakhni Gram




Attendees

Client: Vinod B Suthar (TDO), Mukesh Sharma(DIO), Dhirajlal J. Trivedi (Talati), Gomati Ben Patel(VCE), Sarpanch, Anganwadi workers, Gram Sevak, SHG-Head, citizens EY: Jyoti Sinha, Sunayana Padhi, Mr. Dodhia (Retired Dy.TDO)


Client: None

EY: None

Discussed Items

Opening speech and introductory note by the TDO-Deesa, explaining the purpose of the Gram Sabha and the need of their active participation

Introductory speech and welcome by the Sarpanch

Welcome note and objective of the team presence and expectation from the gram members by the Talati

Expectation from the Gram Sabha and the need of their participation

Objective explanation and request for participation by the EY Principle consultant


Gujarat


The regular Gram Sabha proceedings were carried out, wherein the TDO discussed about the proposal of the Gram Hath

Awareness of the citizens were gauged via discussion and aided recall of services

The delivery mode and tier at which the services were delivered was discussed

The citizen, talati and sarpanch were probed about services that were not mentioned via the aided recall process

Inclusion in the BPL list, the criteria, and means were discussed. The difficulties in enrolling into a BPL were noted

It was observed that people were not active in demanding job under NREGA

Focus group was conducted with the women-folk to understand their problems. Further were give mediums of solution

The work of the VCE and the services that can be availed and are availed via the eGram were discussed. Further the VCE was asked to give a self-introduction and explain to the Gram her duties as a Gram Sevak

It was ascertained that the Gram Sevak regularly visited the Gram, however people were not aware the visit-days and the role and responsibilities of the Gram Sevak

The major challenges faced by the gram in obtaining services and the difficulties of the VCE, sarpanch and talati were discussed

Gramsabha in Odhwa Banaskantha

Minutes of the Meeting of the: Gram Sabha Meeting-Odhwa Gram-Deesa Block-Banaskantha

Objective: To conduct a Gram Sabha, to ascertain the awareness levels, Information dissemination, service delivery pattern and the challenges faced at the Gram level. Further to Sensitize the citizen, talati and the sarpanch of the various schemes and services extended by the PRI


Gujarat


Date: 15 July 2009 Location: Gram Primary School, Odhwa Gram, Deesa, Banaskatha, Gujarat



1200hours 1400hours 2 1200hours 1600hours 4

Attendees

Client: B.K. Tubiyar (DSO), Ashok Bhai Panchal (Sarpanch), U.V. Patel(Talati), S.A. Panchal(Dy.TDO), Members of the Panchayat committee, Primary teachers, VEC (Village executive committee) members, eGram computer operator, Anganwadi members, Mr. Shrimali(Headmaster-Primary school), former Gram-Mitras, School children, members of the Gram EY: Jyoti Sinha, Sunayana Padhi, Mr. Dodhia (Retired Dy.TDO)


Client: Name of Members of VEC, Enrollment data of Primary school from 2004 till date

EY: None

Discussed Items

Welcome song and dance by the primary school students and teachers

Opening speech and introductory note by the Dy.TDO

Introductory speech and welcome by the Sarpanch

Welcome note and objective of the team presence and expectation from the gram members by the Talati

Expectation from the Gram Sabha and the need of their participation by the DSO


Gujarat


Opening speech and objective explanation by the EY Principle consultant

Leading questions to ascertain the knowledge of services provided at the Grams through PRI and otherwise

The delivery mode of services that were generated via the leading question were discussed

Discussion of the services that were not mentioned by the gram members, sarpanch and talati were discussed to ascertain awareness of the schemes and programme

Primary details of the schemes that the gram was not aware of were discussed. Details of the schemes and the benefits were explained at the Gram Sabha

Major challenges were discussed.

Focus groups were conducted for teenage girls to obtain the kind of services they need and the challenges faced by them

Focus group was conducted for old women (old and widows), to assess if pensions were received by them

The BPL list was discussed in detail. The difficulties in enrolling into a BPL were noted

The enrolment pattern from 2004 till date were obtained

It was discovered that the nearest secondary school was available at a distance of 5km, due to which most girls in the village were not able to study beyond primary school

The Panchayat house was visited to assess the connectivity of the computer available at the gram Panchayat. Further the services rendered from the eGram were also discussed with the VLE and the sarpanch

The gram was informed about the services that can be obtained from the eGram with the help of VLE

It was ascertained that neither the VCE nor the sarpanch were aware of most of the services that could be provided via eGram. Further they were not even aware of the information that was available to them via eGram connectivity

It was observed that though the hardware of the CSC was available at the Panchayat house, however there was no operator. It was informed by the gram that the CSC is not operational and no services are provided via CSC


Gujarat


Based on the discussion the following line of action has been decided:-

Sr. No. Action Items Owner Due Date Requirement

1 To incorporate the wish list obtained from the gram on a priority and feasibility basis in the new service requirement/business process re-engineering

Field Team EY

End of July

Dahod Block Workshop

Minutes of the Meeting of the: Workshop held in Devgarh Baria Block Panchayat

Objective: To have an interactive session with Block Panchayat officials where Panchayat officials are sensitized about the study being conducted, know the expectations project team has from them and have their queries about project answered

Date: 13 July 2009 Location: Meeting Room, 1st Floor, Block Panchayat, Devgarh Baria

Scheduled Time Actual Time Start Stop Total Time Start Stop Total Time

1230hours 1400hours 1.5 1230hours 1430hours Hours

Attendees

Client: TDO, Assistant TDO, Ext Officer Education, Ext Officer Integrated Rural Development, Section Officer Engineering, Taluka Panchayat Officer, Circle Officer, Dy Account, IRD Sr Clerk, CDPO, Assistant CDPO, Admin Staff Project Team: Abid Husain, I R Bhatia (Ex TDO), Ashwin Makwana (NGO)


Client: None (Discussion was Verbal)

EY: None

Discussed Items

Welcome and Introduction of EY team and project to attendees

Presentation by EY team about project, objectives, deliverables, methodology and expectations from officials


Gujarat


A question answer session, in which questions related to project were explained and answered

Vote of thanks by TDO and closure of meeting


Gujarat


Dahod ISNA Workshop

Minutes of the Meeting of the: Dahod District – ISNA Workshop Presentation

Objective: To present the finding of district study; to get feedback from district officials about the findings; to validate our findings about governance, devolution and needs of PRIs; to find out about any points we might have missed out

Date: 18 Aug 2009 Location: Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, Zilla Panchayat Dahod

Scheduled Time Actual Time Start Stop Total Hours Start Stop Total Time


Attendees

Client: DDO, See Annexure for detailed list Project Team: Abid Husain, Amit Kumar, I R Bhatia (Retired PR Officer), Prakash Kapadia (NGO)


Client: None

EY: ISNA Workshop PPT

Discussed Items

Because of time constraints, the presentation was shown first to DDO in his chambers.


Gujarat


• On some of the needs mentioned in the report, he explained the steps already taken in that direction.

• On the point of Talati posts being vacant, he observed that the number of posts being vacant is less but the real problem is number of posts sanctioned for talati posts, which is not sufficient and Talatis are overworked because of that.

• DDO also observed that adequate regular staff requirement is although not directly related to ICT enablement but crucial for successful implementation of any scheme, which is ultimate objective behind ICT initiative as well

• On the point of gram mitra initiative, he informed that already a suggestion has been put which recommends reducing the number of gram mitra posts and instead of honorarium they should be paid a salary. That way they will be motivated and answerable to senior officers

• On the issue of CSCs not being operational, he pointed out that administration has already wrote to state twice about the same and first batch of CSCs is going to start soon

• He pointed out that manpower and unified portal were the two major requirements for successful ICT roll out.

• On the whole, he concurred with the findings of the report

Workshop Presentation • District ISNA Presentation was made to assembled officials. • The presentation explained about

• Project Background • Approach and Methodology adopted • Expectation of Stakeholders from ePRI • Our Findings • Few Photographs • Current Model of Service Delivery • I&S Needs of PRIs • I&S Needs of Citizens • eGovernance Readiness of Dahod & Gujarat • Capacity Assessment of Dahod • Next Steps and Way forward • Business Process Re-engineering • Services Identified (Existing and New) • As-Is Service Maps • Feedback and QA


Gujarat


Feedback • It was mentioned that it should be stated very clearly in the report that all portal like NREGA,

PMGSY should be in local language to improve efficiency of operator • The agriculture department official stressed on the need to create the knowledge base for

farmer should be in local language and it is crucial for successful utilization of such database. • It was agreed that need for manpower was the most important requirement of PRIs • It was also agreed that creating awareness and interest in people about schemes and services

was the most crucial requirement and obviously the first step for any new roll out government is planning.

• In the meeting, everyone concurred that most of the requirement and needs of PRIs as well as of citizens was captured and explained.

Follow- up Action Points from previous meetings (if any)

SR. No. Follow up Action Items Responsibility Target Date Status

Modify presentation as feedback from DDO, DIO and other officials

Abid Husain 19rd Aug 2009 Completed

Details of Attendees: Client

Sr. No Name Designation 1 Mr. Nalin Thaker DDO, Dahod 2 Mr. R A Bhedi DSO, Dahod 3 K N Pandiya DIO, Dahod 4 P M Taviyad DAO, Dahod 5 Mr. J J Parmar DLE, Dahod 6 Mr. N A Dehdu AO (Health) 7 Mr. D J Bhat Assi Dir (Horticulture) 8 Mr. V P Patel TDO, Devgarh Baria 9 Mr. H L Patel Ex Engr (Minor Irrigation) 10 Mr. S Z Chaudhary Accounts Officer 11 Mr. B K Patel DPEO 12 Mr. B A Rana Ex Engr (R&B) 13 Mr. P V Taviyad Talati cum Mantri, Piplod 14 Mr. K S Burjis Head Clerk (Ayurveda) 15 Mr. Prakash Kapadia NGO 16 Mr. I R Bhatia Retired PR Officer

Few Photographs of Workshop


Gujarat


Banaskantha ISNA Workshop

Minutes of the Meeting of the: Banaskantha District-ISNA Workshop Presentation

Objective: To present the finding of district study; To get feedback from district officials about the findings; To validate our findings about governance, devolution and needs of PRIs; To find out about any points that may have been missed out

Date: 18 Aug 2009 Location: Ground Floor, District Village Panchayat Office, Banaskatha, Gujarat



1400hours 1700hours 3 1400hours 1930hours 5.5hours

Attendees

Client: Banaskantha officials (See attached list) Project Team: Jyoti Sinha, Sunayana Padhi


Client:

EY: ISNA workshop presentation

Discussed Items


Gujarat


• Workshop Presentation

• District ISNA Presentation was made to assembled officials.

• The presentation explained about

• Project Background

• Approach and Methodology adopted

• Expectation of Stakeholders from ePRI

• Our Findings

• Few Photographs

• Current Model of Service Delivery

• I&S Needs of PRIs

• I&S Needs of Citizens

• eGovernance Readiness of Dahod & Gujarat

• Capacity Assessment of Dahod

• Next Steps and Way forward

• Business Process Re-engineering

• Services Identified (Existing and New)

• As-Is Service Maps

• Feedback and QA

It was requested by all officials present that the language of presentation may be modified to a

positive note

Feedback was given on the Organization structure and the committees at each level

It was discussed that though there are problems of manpower implementation of schemes and

services are carried out in a timely manner

It was pointed that the issue of attrition of existing manpower in the role of VCE and VLE be

highlighted and suggestions if any be given

CSC was discussed in length. The role of CSC is minimal in G2C service. The CSC need to

charter out their own service deliver to the citizen

Allotting G2C services to the CSC would raise the questions of accountability

Other information and service findings were agreed upon

List of Attendees:


Gujarat


Sl. No. Name Designation Department

1 Mr. A.M.Parmar D.D.O. Panchayat 2 Mr. K.M.Patel Ex. Engineer R&B 3 Mr. M.K.Sharma DIO, Palanpur NIC 4 Mr. H.S. Tubiyar DSO Panchayat

5 Mr. Hasmukh C. Parmar Research Officer Planning

6 Mr. P.J. Khuradi Health 7 Mr. M.R. Parmar D.A.O. Agriculture 8 Mr. R.K.Patel Dy. Director Horticulture 9 Dr. K.V.Prajapati Asst. director Animal Husbandry 10 Mr. N.G.Bhulakila DMO Health 11 Mr. S.K.Baressat AO Accounts, Panchayat 12 Mr. P.K. balat D.P.A.O. Education 13 Mr. R.R. Patel DPC NRHM 14 Mr. R.O. Parmar 15 Mr. B.D. Pa Accountant Panchayat 16 Mr. R.R. Patel Jr. Clerk Panchayat 17 Mr. R.C.Solanki S.A. T.C.D.S 18 Mr. I.H. Modi Dy. Chitnis 19 Mr. M.B. Gadhri S.A. DRDA, Panchayat 20 Mr. R.N.Shah 21 Mr. N.B. 22 Mr. D.K.Trivedi 23 Mr. S.N. Chatterjee 24 Mr. V.H.Joshi S.A. Statistical Branch 25 Mr. Ashok Vaghela District Project Engineer SSA Mission, Education 26 Mr. Rakesh Raval Data Entry Operation Panchayat 27 Mr. Pota DPEO Primary Education


Gujarat


11.4. Glossary Abbreviation Expansion 1 ANM Auxiliary Nurse Midwife 2 AO Administrative Officer 3 APL Above Poverty Line 4 ARWSP Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme 5 ASHA Accredited Social Health Activist 6 ATDO Assistant Taluka Development Officer 7 BDO Block Development Officer 8 BHO Block Health Officer 9 BPL Below Poverty Line 10 BRGF Backward Region Grant Fund 11 CDHO Chief District Health Officer 12 CDP City Development Plan 13 CDPO Child Development Program Officer 14 CEO Chief Executive Officer 15 CSC Common Service Centre 16 CSO Central Statistical Organization 17 CSS Centrally Sponsored Scheme 18 DAO District Agriculture Officer 19 DDO District Development Officer 20 DES Directorate of Economics and Statistics 21 DIO District Information Officer 22 DLE District Level Executive 23 DPC District Planning Committee 24 DPEO District Primary Education Officer 25 DPR Detailed Project Report 26 DPU District Planning Unit 27 DRDA District Rural Development Agency 28 DSO District Statistical Officer 29 EWS Economically Weaker Section 30 GAM Gujarat Asset Management 31 GIS Geographical Information System 32 GoM Group of Ministers 33 GRAM Gujarat Rural Accounting Management 34 HIG Higher-Income Group 35 IAY Indira Awas Yojana 36 ICDS Integrated Child Development Scheme 37 IDDP Integrated District Development Plan 38 IHSDP Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme 39 IWMS Integrated Watershed Management Scheme


Gujarat


40 JNNURM Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission 41 LDP Local Development Plans 42 LIG Lower-Income Group 43 MHUPA Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation 44 MIG Middle-Income Group 45 MIS Management Information Systems 46 MLA Member of the Legislative Assembly 47 MO Medical Officer 48 MP Member of Parliament 49 MPHW Multipurpose Health Worker 50 MPLADS Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme 51 MSE Micro and Small Scale Enterprises 52 MSME Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises 53 NFSM National Food Security Mission 54 NGO Non-governmental Organization 55 NHM National Horticulture Mission 56 NIC National Informatics Centre 57 NRDMS Natural Resources Data Management System 58 NREGA National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 59 NREGS National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme 60 NRHM National Rural Health Mission 61 PFDF Pooled Finance Development Fund 62 PHC Primary Health Centre 63 PIU Project Implementation Unit 64 PLCP Potential Linked Credit Plan 65 PMGSY Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana 66 PMU Project Management Unit 67 PO Program Officer 68 PRI Panchayati Raj Institution 69 RKVY Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana 70 RTI Right to Information 71 SHG Self-help Group 72 SGSY Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana 73 SSA Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan 74 TDO Taluka Development Officer 75 TLE Taluka Level Executive 76 TSC Total Sanitation Campaign 77 TSP Tribal Sub Plan 78 TSTSP Technical Support and Training Service Provider 79 UNDP United Nations Development Program 80 VCE Village Computer Entrepreneur 81 VLE Village Local Entrepreneur 82 GSWAN Gujarat State Wide Area Network


Gujarat


11.5. References Sr. No. SOURCE

1 Socio-Economic Review Gujarat State (2008-09). Publication No. 32

2 Budget in Brief Gujarat State-An analytical summary(2009-10) Publication No. 31

3 Annual Report-Ministry of Tribal Affairs (2007-08)

4 Budget District Panchayat Banaskantha (2009-10)

5 The Gujarat Panchayat Manual by B.S. Vaishnav I.A.S. (Retd)

6 CSC IL&FS report

7 SIRD (Rajya Gram Vikaas Sanstha) publication

8 Informatics-NIC publication on eGovernance-Volume 18

9 PRI 13 Finance commission presentation-PR Department

10 eGram presentation-eGRAM Vishwagram Society

11 http://www.gujaratindia.com/initiatives

12 http://www.iimahd.ernet.in

13 http://panchayat.gujarat.gov.in/panchayatvibhag/english/index.htm

14 http://dahoddp.gujarat.gov.in/dahod/english/

15 http://banaskanthadp.gujarat.gov.in/banaskantha/english/

16 http://www.egramgujarat.org/

http://www.gujaratindia.com/initiatives

http://www.iimahd.ernet.in

http://panchayat.gujarat.gov.in/panchayatvibhag/english/index.htm

http://dahoddp.gujarat.gov.in/dahod/english/

http://banaskanthadp.gujarat.gov.in/banaskantha/english/

http://www.egramgujarat.org/


Gujarat


ZalodDahod

Limkheda

DhanpurDevgadhBaria

Gorbada

Fatehpura

ZalodDahod

Limkheda

DhanpurDevgadhBaria

Gorbada

Fatehpura

11.6. Brief Profile of Dahod Introduction: Dahod is the eastern gateway of Gujarat and was carved

out of Panchmahals district in 1979. Dahod shares its

border with Rajasthan state in the north and Madhya

Pradesh state in the east

► The district is spread across 7 Talukas and Dahod taluka

is the headquarter

► It is the second largest wholesale grains market in Gujarat

► Focus industry sectors

• Food products

• Rubber & plastic

• Mineral based industries

Economy and Industry Profile:

► Dahod is predominantly an

agricultural region and the prime

share of revenue in the district

comes from agriculture-based

products

► Wheat and maize are the major

crops of the district

► Agriculture has given a great

impetus to home-based industries

such as making jute ropes and

weaving bamboo

► 4,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) of quartz

is produced in the district and supports cement, glass

and ceramic industries

► The talukas Dahod and Devgadh Baria houses

maximum number of small scale industries

► Gujarat Fluoro Chemicals Limited in Goghamba taluka

is a public sector unit which is known for refrigerants

► Makharia Netting Private Limited in Dahod

Fact Files Geographical Location

73.15° to 74.30° East (Longitude)

20.30 ° to 23.30 ° North (Latitude)

Temperature 45 O Centigrade (Maximum) 5 O Centigrade (Minimum) Average Rainfall 1,107 mm

Rivers 4 (Anas, Panam, Macchan, Kali)

Area 3,733 sq.km. District Headquarters Dahod Talukas 7

Population 1.63 Million (As per 2001 Census)

Population Density 438 Persons per sq. km Sex Ratio 985 Females per 1000 Males Languages Gujarati, Hindi and English Literacy Rate 45.65%

District Map of Dahod with Talukas


Gujarat


manufactures fishing net

Economy Drivers:

► The economy is mainly driven by agriculture and agriculture based products ► Water conservation measures, improved agricultural methods and community forestry programs

support the agricultural practices in Dahod

► Being the district headquarter, Dahod taluka has the

maximum industrial locations and major section of

working population in Dahod are employed in small scale

industries

► The economy of Dahod also thrives on the grain & pulse mills, food processing machinery, and cement & gypsum industries

► The district is well connected to other States through rail

and road network

► The tribal culture and the fascinating tribal folklores of

the district are a great attraction for the tourists

Social Infrastructure:

Education:

► Dahod district has total 1,689

primary, secondary and higher

secondary schools (including

government and private)

► The district Government Engineering College at Dahod offer courses in

chemical, civil, electrical, electronic and communication,

information technology, production and mechanical

engineering, and has intake capacity of 240

► Government Polytechnic College at Dahod offer

courses in computer, electrical, mechanical and civil

engineering

Type of Educational Institute Number

Primary schools 1473 Secondary schools Higher Secondary schools 216 Engineering college 1 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) 11 Polytechnic 1 Others 6


Gujarat


Health:

► There are 11 community and 52 primary health centers present in the district.

► Five Trust hospitals are operational in Dahod

► The district has conventional ayurvedic and homeopathic health facilities

► Dahod has a few specialised hospitals for the treatment of physiological disorders, chronic

diseases and lifestyle diseases

► Banker’s Heart Institute in Dahod taluka provides

specialised treatment to cardiac patients

Tourism:

► Aurangzeb no Killo (Fort) –houses government

offices and a few dargahs

► A Shiva Temple belonging to the 12th century

► Chhab Talav (Lake) and Ratanmahal sanctuary are

attractive tourist destinations


Gujarat


Dhanera

TharadVav

DeoderBhabhar

PalanpurDanta

Dantiwada

Vadgam

Deesa

Sikori

AmirgadhDhanera

TharadVav

DeoderBhabhar

PalanpurDanta

Dantiwada

Vadgam

Deesa

Sikori

Amirgadh

11.7. Brief Profile of Banaskantha Introduction:

Banaskantha is the third largest district of Gujarat.

The region is named after the West Banas River

and shares its border with the neighboring state of

Rajasthan,

► There are 11 Talukas in the district with

Palanpur (district head quarter), Dessa, Danta and

Ameergarh being the important and developed

taluka of the district

► Banaskantha contributes significantly to agricultural production of the state and ranks

No.1 in production of potatoes in India

► The district is also known for its diamond and ceramic industry

► Focus industry sectors

• Food processing

• Tourism

• Mineral based industries

Fact Files Geographical Location Longitude: 71.03O to 73.02O East Latitude: 23.33Oto 24.25O North Temperature 45 O Centigrade (Maximum) 5 O Centigrade (Minimum) Average Rainfall 1550 mm Rivers Banas, Saraswati & Sepu Area 10,400.16 Sq. Km District Headquarters Palanpur Talukas 12 Population 2.50 Million (As per Census 2001) Population Density 233 Persons per sq. km Sex Ratio 930 Females per 1000 Males Languages Gujarati, Hindi and English Literacy Rate 51%

District Map of Banaskantha with Talukas


Gujarat


Economy and Industry Profile:

► The economy of the district is based on agro

& food Processing, tourism, textile and

mineral based industries (ceramics)

► The district ranks 1st in the production of

vegetables contributing nearly 17.67% to the

total vegetable production of the State

► It is the largest producer of Potatoes and one

of the leading producers of Isabgul (Psyllium

husk) in the country

► Traditionally, the district is known for its food

processing industry, specially for vegetable

oils and vanaspati

► Banaskatha is the 3rd largest producer of oil seeds in the state after Junagarh and Jamnagar

Economy Drivers:

► The food processing and textiles industries existing in the district

for last two decades are driving its economic growth

► Proposed Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) passing

through the Diamond Hub – Palanpur is expected to emerge as

the major economic driver of the district

► The vast reserves of marble in the district are a great potential for

ceramic industry

► Various support infrastructure

projects planned across the

proposed DMIC are expected to

further boost the economic growth of the region due to the

improved intra and inter State connectivity of the district

► Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL) has planned to lay Gas

pipeline in the district along DMIC, which would further fillip the

industrial growth in Banaskantha

Main Crops & Rainfall, Banaskantha District


Gujarat


Social Infrastructure: Education:

► Banaskantha district has around 1,983 primary

schools, 153 secondary schools, and 56 higher

secondary schools

► The district has a good network of technical

training institutes like ITIs (Industrial Training

Institutes)

► The ITIs have an intake capacity

of 2,028 students every year and

offer courses in engineering,

textile and automobile areas

Health:

► A mobile ayurvedic dispensary

has also been sanctioned in

Banaskantha district under Special Component Plan

► Pulse, a multi-specialty women's hospital, has entered into franchisee agreements with hospitals

in Idar in Banaskantha to

facilitate infertility treatment in the

district

Tourism: ► The district has immense tourism

potential because of the presence of pilgrimages like Ambaji & Kumbharia

► 43.3% of the tourist inflow is for religious purposes and Ambaji has emerged as the second most

popular tourist destination in Gujarat

► Apart from Ambaji, Banaskantha has other interesting places like Kumbharia, Balarm-Ambaji

Sanctuary & Palace Resort, Jessore and Sloth Bear Sanctuary

Type of Educational Institute Number Primary schools 1983 Secondary schools 153 Higher Secondary schools 56 Private Arts, Commerce, Science, B.Ed &

Law Colleges 7 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) 5 Cottage Industry Training Institute 2 Polytechnic 1

Type of Medical Facility Number Community Health Centres 12 Primary. health Centres 64 Sub Centers 422 Government Hospitals 2 Private. Medical care Institutions including Trust hospitals 979

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