Title : e-Governance in Panchayati Raj – State of Orissa view Author : B. P. Mishra, PSA, Orissa State Unit, Bhubaneswar Publication : egov Asia 2006 conference proceedings booklet Abstract : Electronic governance, otherwise called e- Governance, is the new methodology of governance using information and communication technology (ICT) all over the world. The rural development programmes in India are executed and monitored by the 3-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI). The objective of these rural development programmes can be achieved only if the execution and monitoring can be done in more effective manner and that is possible only through the use of ICT. Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India, recommended the use of ICT in PRIs in 7th Round Table Conference held at Jaipur, Rajasthan in 2004. Government of Orissa has taken this as a mission mode project and implemented some e-governance applications for transparent and effective management of PRIs. The project includes applications like Priasoft that monitors financial position of PRIs, where as Ruralsoft gives the picture of physical progress of projects implemented at the village level. Besides, the portals of Panchayati Raj department and the PRIs give a lot of information to the public for better transparency.