Know, how Government is transforming farmers’ life through technology
Technological innovations are greatly shaping agriculture and rural economy in India, thanks to the transformative technological interventions, being smartly implemented for last few years by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. With the creation of various scientific instruments like global positioning system (GPS) driven precision farming equipments, drones, new ways of irrigating crops and breeding more disease resistant varieties and others, farming related works have become much more efficient, giving a boost to the productions which finally results in the raise of farmers’ income, which is the objective of the government.
With drastic changes in the way cultivation is done, technology is also fast changing the face of the villages. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has himself said that at the core of our good governance efforts in India’s villages is to leverage the power of technology for the welfare of people. The PM gave an example of SVAMITVA scheme which has given great results.
Technologies bringing positive changes
Nearly 36 Lakh Property cards have been prepared in 28,603 villages under SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages And Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Scheme. Under e-Gram Swaraj e-Financial Management System 2.54 lakh Gram Panchayats have uploaded approved Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). The Government of India has developed mActionSoft – a mobile based solution to help in capturing photos with Geo-Tags for the works. 2.52 lakh photographs of the assets have been uploaded by the Gram Panchayats for the activities taken under fifteenth Finance Commission. Launching of e-Gram Swaraj e-Financial Management System is strengthening e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions. For enhancing effective COVID-19 management in rural areas MoPR launched the COVID-19 Dashboard. MoPR has also developed an online portal with dashboard to assimilate and display key performance parameters related to the operationalization of Vibrant Gram Sabhas in the States /UTs.
Central Sector Scheme SVAMITVA
Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) is implementing Central Sector Scheme SVAMITVA with the aim to provide the ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners possessing houses in inhabited areas in villages. Legal ownership rights in the form of Property cards/Title deeds, are issued by mapping of land parcels using drone technology. It is being implemented with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Department, State Panchayati Raj Department and Survey of India (SoI). States need to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SoI for implementation of the scheme. So far, 29 States, including the State of Rajasthan, have signed MoU with SoI. The scheme aims to cover all the villages across the country by March 2025. One objective of the scheme is to facilitate monetization of properties of the citizens of rural India by enabling them to use their property as a financial asset by taking loans and other financial benefits.
eGramSwaraj- a Simplified Work Based Accounting Application
In order to strengthen e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), eGramSwaraj, a simplified work based accounting application for Panchayati Raj, has been developed amalgamating the functionalities of all the applications under e-panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP). e-GramSwaraj subsumes the e-FMS applications and comprises of several modules like- GP Profile which maintains panchayat profile with election details, elected members, committee information etc. Panchayat planning facilitates the planning of activities and action plan creation. Similarly physical progress records the physical and financial progress of approved activities. Financial progress facilitates the work-based accounting and monitoring of funds. Asset directory stores the details of all the immovable and movable assets of the Panchayats.
Citizen Charter document
In order to focus on the commitment of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) towards its citizens in respects of standard of services, information, choice and consultation, non-discrimination and accessibility, grievance redress, courtesy and value for money, Ministry has provided platform to upload Citizen Charter document (https://panchayatcharter.nic.in/) with the slogan “Meri Panchayat Mera Adhikaar – Jan Sevaayein Hamaare Dwaar”. This also includes expectations of the organization from the citizen for fulfilling the commitment of the organization.
Social Audit for effective utilization of grants
Social Audit is an important mechanism by which the effective utilization of grants and their outcomes by RLBs can be monitored. Social Audit involves verifying the field realities with data in official documents and discussing the findings in a public platform such as Gram Sabha. The social audit process goes beyond just accounting for the funds spent to examine whether or not the expenditure was made properly. It also checks the outcomes as to the material difference in people’s lives as a result of such expenditure.
COVID-19 Dashboard
India’s fight against COVID-19 till now, has established the importance of bringing data driven strategies for COVID-19 management, especially in rural areas where the lack of information regarding COVID-19 management can be severely constraining pandemic management. Considering the recent increase in number of COVID-19 cases, MoPR, along with NIC, launched the COVID-19 Dashboard on 18th June, 2021 for enhancing effective COVID-19 management in rural areas. The Dashboard captures several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as GPs with VHNSC, GPs taking up IEC activities on COVID-19 awareness, volunteers enrolled, frontline workers enrolled, GPs with isolation centers etc. This dashboard shall be a crucial resource for State and Central Government in bringing localized policy interventions to ensure optimization of critical resources. The URL of the dashboard is https://egramswaraj.gov.in/covidDashboard.do.
AuditOnline application
As a part of the critical institutional reform, XV FC has stipulated that the audited reports of Panchayat accounts need to be made available in the public domain as an eligibility criteria. In this regard, MoPR had conceptualized the application “AuditOnline” for carrying out online audit of Panchayat accounts pertaining to Central Finance Commission Grants. It not only facilitates the auditing of accounts but also provisions for maintaining digital audit records pertaining to audits that have been carried out. This application provides for streamlining the various audit processes, namely, audit inquiries, draft local audit reports, draft audit paras etc.
Smart Vending E-Cart
In its efforts towards leveraging technology for rural development, MoPR has collaborated with principal scientific advisor to Government of India, Department of Science and Technology and six IITs in developing Smart Vending Cart to be used by Vendors in the rural areas. The Smart Vending E-Cart, designed by IIT Bombay, has been demonstrated and found to be quite appropriate for use the vendors / small businesses in rural, peri-urban and farm sectors.
Dissemination of information
The Government took to bulk SMSes, social media platforms and WhatsApp Groups to disseminate relevant information regarding major campaigns, initiatives, and activities of the ministry among panchayati raj institutions and other stake-holders of Panchayati Raj.
Gloss