To make Panchayats accountable, transparent, inclusive and empowered, e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project under National e-Governance Plan is being rolled out at all the three tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), viz. 38 District Panchayats, 531 Block Panchayats and 8398 Gram Panchayats by Panchayati Raj Department, Govt. of Bihar with technical support from State and District Centres of NIC. This project is being implemented under the guidance of Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Govt. of India with the help of e-Panchayat Enterprise Suite (PES). PES is a suite of 10 Common Core Applications, developed by NIC (HQ). NIC Services Inc. (NICSI) provided valuable support in the process. The project is being rolled out in every Panchayat of Bihar state by Panchayati Raj Department, Bihar to empower them with inclusive development and to lay down a more accountable and transparent system. Panchayat institutions are also getting empowered by switching over to digital and online platforms. Best Practices The main focus of e-Panchayat MMP was on infrastructure creation, capacity building and e-Governance through PES applications. To achieve this, following activities were carried out in Bihar:

  1. Panchayat IT-Cells were set up at the state capital and at all the 38 districts and 531 blocks.
  2. State Project Management Unit (SPMU) was set up at state capital while District Project Management Units (DPMUs) were created at all the 38 districts.
  3. Suitable hardware, software and connectivity were provisioned for these IT-Cells and Project Management Units.
  4. Workforce comprising of four State Program Managers (SPMs), 38 District Program Managers (DPMs) and 531 Block Panchayat IT Operators was created.
  5. Proper capacity building exercise including training, review and monitoring of the workforce was carried out.

Further, computers and connectivity are being provided to every elected representative of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) along with proper training. Employees of PRIs are also being trained for computer usage. Success Over 70% Panchayats in Bihar have become digital and are connected to Internet. Accounts, plans and other information of Panchayats are available on the public domain. They are now gearing up to provide government services to the citizen at their doorsteps. The efforts and results have been widely recognized by the public as well as by the government. The journey has not been easy and against many odds, such as lack of buildings, manpower, computers, connectivity, electricity etc. For successful implementation of e-Panchayat, Bihar has achieved 3rd prestigious position in National e-Panchayat Puraskaar 2014 of Govt. of India. Future Endeavors Plans are there to construct entirely new multipurpose Panchayat Sarkar Bhawans (PSBs) at every Gram Panchayat in Bihar with necessary IT and non-IT infrastructure. In the 1st phase, 1830 PSBs are already in different stages of construction. It is also planned that adequate number of administrative and technical manpower will be provided to every Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) on regular basis under Rajeev Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA). These infrastructure and manpower will further support and augment the e-Panchayat MMP roll-out in the state. The point from which Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in Bihar started its journey to digital empowerment and the pace at which they are steadily moving ahead are incredible. Certainly, they have the potential to be on top at national level in near future.