Rural Connectivity (GPNIC) for Panchayats

Many attempts have been made by government at various level to strengthen the service delivery to rural public in
India however attempts have not been succeeded due to limitations in services delivery, awareness, involvements
of various servicing agencies and of course poor network connectivity up to Panchayat level. First time in India a
service delivery solution, GPNIC has been designed, developed and implemented in 10 Gram Panchayats of
Srinagar Block in Ajmer District as a proof of concept. The project services right at the grass root level i.e. Gram
Panchayat which is in the reach of every rural citizen. It has been developed to facilitate Panchayat office by
providing various online services. This project will reduce gap between urban and rural areas and shall help to
reach the unreached through the network and to serve the served/under-served by building up the capacity of the
panchayat for prompt and responsive service delivery.

This is the model example of how in a very short span of time, a project can be designed, developed and
implemented at the grass root level. The project has been developed to bridge the gap between rural and urban by
responsive service delivery. Presently 18 villages under 10 Gram Panchayats are covered in the project. The
network connectivity provided at Gram Panchayat office can be extended to other government offices, Schools,
hospitals with the help of wireless system. As a model of wireless system connectivity has been done by
connecting gram Panchayat Srinagar to BDO office, gram Panchayat Kanpura to Govt. School, Kanpura and gram
Panchayat Ramsar to Govt. school ramsar which is working successfully since the installation. The Telemedicine
facility demonstrated at Kanpura can be used to deliver quality medical services remotely.

Introduction
Government of India has initiated a programme for connecting rural India with the help of Information &
Communication Technology. 10 Gram Panchayats of Srinagar Block in Ajmer District of Rajasthan were selected
as Pilot Panchayat to work out proof of concept. BSNL has provided optical fiber based connectivity to all the 10
panchayat offices. NIC took the lead to select and provide software for e-governance applications which are
beneficial to the citizens of the Gram Panchayat. Infrastructural support was extended by Panchayati Raj
Department, Government of Rajasthan. NIC developed a portal to facilitate all the services and also provided an
email account to all 10 panchayats. Series of capacity building training has been organised for the staff posted at
Panchayat offices. Computer system with operator hired under MGNREGA scheme is being used for this project
at all 10 Gram Panchayats.

On 15th September’ 2010, 13 members high level

delegation from United States led by Shri Aneesh Chopra,
White House Chief Technology Officer under INDIA-US
Innovation Exchange Forum visited one of the Gram
Panchayat Kanpura, Srinagar Block, Ajmer District,
Rajasthan to have a first hand look about the innovations
done by the Government of India at Panchayat level. The
team highly impressed with the work done at the grass root
level. Shri Chopra commented “This is by far the most
impressive e-governance demonstration I have seen since
I have been in the administration”.
 On 7th November’ 2010, Hon’ble President of United States, Shri
Barack Obama hold Video Conferencing from St. Xaviers College,
Mumbai to Gram Panchayat, Kanpura, Srinagar Block, District Ajmer
to know about the impact of the e-governance services at Panchayat.
Video conferencing system was setup at Panchayat office in Kanpura.
Hon’ble Minister of State for Communication and Information
Technology, Shri Sachin Pilot briefed president about the benefits of
the project. Gram Sewak, AMN (Nurse) and a student talked hon’ble
president about the benefits they have received with the project.
Hon’ble president commented “I want to congratulate all of you for
doing this terrific work. I look forward to watching this terrific
experiment continuing to expand throughout India. You will be the
model for the countries around the world”.

On 21st February’ 2011, US congerss delegation held video

conferencing from NIC Delhi to Kanpura Panchayats to have a look
about the complete administrative hierarchy from Country Capital to
Gram Panchayat. Delegation talked the District Collector, Ajmer and
beneficiaries of the project at Kanpura. Delegation also talked with
the school students at Kanpura which are connected to the
conferencing on wireless link.

Administrative Setup at Gram Panchayat – There are on an average 35 Gram Panchayat in each Block /
Panchayat Samiti in Rajasthan. Each Gram Panchayat constituted with 3-4 villages. Officers / employees posted
at each Gram Panchayat office are:-
1. Sarpanch – Elected member
2. Gram Sewak cum Secretary Gram Panchayat – Government Servant
3. Gram Rozgar Sahayak – Contacted for NREGA
4. Agriculture Supervisor – Government Servant
5. Computer Operator – Contracted for NREGA

Locations Covered
Tehsil Ajmer: Makadwali, Chachiawas, Aradka & Babaicha
Tehsil Nasirabad: Badlia, Srinagar, Kanpura, Tihari, Ramsar, Sanod

Implementation Methodology
 Field survey of 10 Gram Panchayats to access the basic feasibility in terms of infrastructure.
 Technical feasibility of extending fiber at Gram Panchayats.
 Need Assessment to deploy core applications for the benefits of citizens.
 Willingness of the Panchayati Raj department, Rajasthan.
 Local language interface developed for the delivery of each service.
 Discussions with Sarpanch (Head of Panchayat) for the services undertaken at Panchayats.
 Capacity building by training to Panchayat’s staff like Gram Sewak, Gram Rozgar Sahayak, Computer
Operator etc.
 Coordination at State, District & Panchayat level for the smooth implementation of the project.
 Coordination with BSNL & Line Departments so that things can be done rightly at the first instance.

GPNIC Software
Web based software has been developed by NIC to deliver the services from Gram Panchayat level. Studies and
field survey done to access the requirements of the Gram Panchayat and software developed based on the input
received from field officials.
 Figure 3: Web based GPNIC Software
Various modules of the software are:
 Individual Beneficiaries Scheme: Software displays information of the various government schemes
with application forms. Software also have audio interface so that user can listen about the scheme’s
details in Hindi.
 Land Records: Panchayat login has been created in the state level online land records web portal so that
land holders can obtain their Land Records (Records of Rights) at Gram Panchayat. As Panchayat is the
sanctioning authority of mutations, land holder can also see the status of his mutation from the Panchayat
level.
 MGNREGA: Various information like Job Card status, caste wise registration, Demand for work,
families completed 100 days employment, work status etc. can now accessed from Gram Panchayat.
 BPL & APL Information: Form No. / Name / Panchayat Samiti wise state BPL and APL list is available
from Panchayat level with the help of software. Copy of the BPL List can also be obtained from
Panchayat office.
 Pregnancy & Child Tracking System: Data entry of pregnant woman details, which is currently being
done from block level can now be done from Gram Panchatyat. Various reports like Cases due for
delivery with status, Registered cases, Delivery cases etc. are now available from Gram Panchayat.
Citizens are getting their Ante Natal care (ANC) & Immunisation schedule from the Panchayats.
 e-Gram: Monthly data feeding in e-Gram, reality check on government amenities, is now being done at
Gram Panchayat level with the help of software.
 Birth & Death Registration: With the help of GPNIC software, Birth & Death registration certificates
are now being generated by computers. The monthly information are also generated for sending to BDO
office.
 Mandi Rates of agriculture produces : State wide Mandi rates of agriculture produces are now
available from Panchayat office with the help of software.
 Results display: Various educational and professional colleges’ results are now available from Gram
Panchayat.

Facilities made available to Citizens from Gram Panchayats

 Availability of various records like Land Records Copy, BPL list, Birth & Death Certificate etc.
 Various medical records availability like ANC Schedule, Immunisation schedule to citizens and Due
Delivery, vaccine stock, medicine stock and various schedules to medical staff posted at Panchayat level.
 National level MGNREGA database accessibility.
 Data for various govt. schemes like e-Gram, Pregnancy & Child Tracking System, MGNREGA etc. can
be entered online easily right from the gram panchayat level.
  Facilities like Basic Telephone, Desktop Video conferencing, IP TV have been enabled from Panchayat
which is useful for capacity building and monitoring purpose from various levels. These services were
demonstrated to US delegation.
 Email facilities have been given to all 10 Gram Panchayat and Block office so that they can communicate
electronically.
 Website of all 10 Gram Panchayats (http://panchayat.raj.nic.in) developed and hosted by NIC providing
useful information to public.
 Internet access opens the whole world of opportunities to the citizens. Panchayat personal have been
trained in using facilities like admission/counseling information of educational institutions, employment
forms, Mandi rates of agriculture produces, court cases status etc. from Panchayat office.
 Telemedicine facilities demonstrated with the help of C-DAC by which patient can remotely consult
doctor from Gram Panchayats office.
 Wireless connectivity setup with the help of C-Dot, between Gram Panchayat office, Kanpura to Govt.
Schools at Kanpura & Ramsar Panchayats. Fiber connectivity of Panchayat office can be extended to
other govt. offices of the Panchayat.
 School students at govt. school, Kanpura are getting computer awareness training by the technical staff of
Panchayat office.

Benefits
 Person seeking employment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA) needs to apply at Gram Panchayat for registration and demand for work. Gram Panchayat
issue Job card and allocate work within 15 days of demand. Wage payment is being done based on the
must rolls filled at the work site. Various information like Job Card status, caste wise registration,
Demand for work, families completed 100 days employment, work status etc. are now been monitored
from Panchayat level by accessing national NREGA database. Panchayat are serving better and faster
with the help of network connectivity.
 e-Gram is the reality check mechanism for effective monitoring of the basic amenities provided by
government in rural areas. This is the web base project developed and implemented by NIC as per the
requirements of Hon’ble Chief Minister. Survey form is designed including 13 major departments.
Presently data of 43,902 villages come under 9180 Gram Panchayat, 248 blocks and 33 Districts are
available in e-Gram. Information feeding from Gram Panchayat level instead of Block level has been
done which is beneficial as it speed up the compilation process. Information also becomes refined as it is
being fed before Gram prabhari who itself surveyed the village.
 Pregnancy & Child Tracking System maintains records of pregnant women and child to boost up and
ensure safe institutional delivery and immunization. Information like expected date of delivery,
vaccination required, delivery date, death cases etc. are recorded in the system. Master data about Medical
colleges, hospitals, satellite hospitals, dispensaries, CHC, PHC and sub centre are available in the system.
Monthly information is collected at village level and fed online currently from block CHC which can be
now carried out from Panchayat level. The information is being monitored by medical department at
various levels and field functionaries can get useful reports like Case due for delivery with status,
Immunisation schedule, Registered cases, Delivery cases etc. Information feeding from Gram Panchayat
is highly beneficial as it gives real time information to the system.
 There is the huge demand of Land records copy in the rural area. Presently Patwari is the only person who
has the authentic copy in village otherwise citizens has to visit Tehsil office or district office for the copy.
With the help of software, land holders can obtain their Land Records (Records of Rights) at Gram
Panchayat level.
 Government target BPL (Below Poverty Line) families for all schemes related to poverty eradication in
the country. For ascertaining the numbers of BPL families, census is conducted in the country after every
5 years. Last census was conducted in the year 2002. All the data related to census is available on the web
site for public viewing and Panchayats can verify this data online. Copy of the BPL records can also be
obtained from Panchayat office.
 Websites of all 10 Gram Panchayats has been created and hosted. Use full information of panchayats put
in the website for public viewing.
  Many application forms are filled online these days. Institutions like Bank, RPSC are going to provide
online application facility in Rajasthan. Internet facility provided at Gram Panchayat are now being used
by students for submitting application forms online for various courses and employment.
 Economy of rural India depends on agriculture produces. If the farmers gets good price of their produces,
they will be economically stronger. Making available prices of the Mandi online to Gram Panchayat level
is highly beneficial to the farmers selling their produces.

Important Events

 On 15th Sepctember’ 2010, 13 members, US delegation led by Shri Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology
Officer, White House visited Kanpura Panchayat e-governance facilities.
 On 7th November’ 2010, hon’ble US President, Barack Obama held video conferencing with Kanpura
Panchayat from Mumbai to know about the impact of egovernance services at Panchayats.
 On 21st February’ 2011, US congerss delegation held video conferencing from NIC Delhi to Kanpura
Panchayats to have a look about the complete administrative hierarchy from Country Capital to Gram
Panchayat.
 On 25th February’ 2011, a team from Advisor to PM on Public Information, Infrastructure & Innovation
office visited Kanpura Panchayats to have a view of egovernance services at Panchayat and wireless
services at govt. school, Kanpura.
 On 8th May’ 2011, BBC News telecasted a story on the e-governance services on agriculture sector by
which farmers are getting market prices on agriculture produces from local Panchayat office before
selling their crops.