Would anyone know of how effectively computers are being used in panchayats in Goa? There have been a number of official claims made on this, but I've not seen much evidence that matches up.
Some statements made on the issue: TO THE PANCHAYATS: The Government of Goa had taken up e-Governance initiatives in various areas including the state transport department and land records—a project called Dharni. National Informatics Centre (NIC)’s e-Gov project which is about setting up of Common Services Centres (CSCs) was also on in the state. Another important scheme was InfoGram, as part of which 109 village panchayats were to be connected through the Internet in a year’s time. (June 2007) http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20070611/market09.shtml * * * INFOGRAM: Info Gram is a comprehensive IT Solution, covering all activities in the Village Panchayats: Broadly, Functions in a Village Panchayat can be grouped as: Water Supply. Public Health. Family Welfare. Sanitation. Creation and Maintenance of Roads. Street Lighting. Implementation of various Central and State Government Schemes. Garbage Collection and Disposal Organizing Meetings of Members. Organizing Gram Sabha. Registration Births. Registration of Deaths. Maintaining all Accounts. Collection of House Tax. Collection of Light Tax. Collection of Lease/Rent. Issue of Construction Licenses. Issue of Trade Licenses. NOC for Water Connection. NOC for Electricity Connection. Issue of Certificates. Info Gram covers most of the above functions. Info Gram consists of the following Modules: 1. Inward Register 2. Outward Register 3. Registration of Births 4. Registration of Deaths 5. Accounts 6. House Tax 7. Light Tax 8. Lease/Rent 9. Construction Licenses 10. Trade Licenses 11. NOC for Water Connection 12. NOC for Electricity Connection 13. Certificates 14. Important Works 15. Panchayat Details Info Gram has been implemented in five Village Panchayats in Goa. 1. Inward Register. This Module has Provision to: Enter Letters Received Print Inward Register 2. Outward Register. This Module has provision to: Enter Letters to be dispatched. Print Outward Register. Enter Stamp Purchased 3. Registration of Births. This Module has provision to : Register Births. Issue Birth Certificate. Issue Non-availability Certificate. Maintain Register of Births. Print Register of Births 4. Registration of Deaths: This Module has provision to : Register Deaths. Issue Certificate of Death. Maintain Register of Deaths. Print Register of Deaths. 5. Accounts. This Module has provision to: Enter Annual Budget. Print/View Budget Position. Enter Receipt Details. Print Receipt. View/Print Receipt Details. Enter Payment Details. Print Voucher. View/Print Voucher Details. Maintain Cash Book. Print Cash Book. Maintain Classified Ledger. View/Print Classified Ledger as and when required. Print Monthly Income and Expenditure Statement. Print Annual Income and Expenditure Statement. Print Cumulative Expenditure Statement 6. House Tax. This Module has provision to: Maintain database of all Houses. Calculate House Tax. Maintain Demand and Collection Details. View/Print Demand and Collection Statement. Print Demand Notice Enter Tax Payment Details. Print Tax Receipt. View/Print List of Defaulters with arrears. Print Reminders View/Print Month-wise Tax Collection Statement. 7. Light Tax. This Module has provision to: Maintain database of all Houses. Calculate Light Tax. Maintain Demand and Collection Details. View/Print Demand and Collection Statement. Print Demand Notice. Enter Tax Payment Details. Print Tax Receipt. View/Print List of Defaulters with arrears. Print Reminders. View/Print Month-wise Tax Collection Statement. 8. Rent/Lease: This Module has provision to: Enter details of all buildings and shops owned. Enter details of tenants. Enter monthly rent/lease payments. Issue Receipt. View/Print Defaulters. Print Notices. Print Monthly/Progressive/Yearly Statement of Rent/Lease Collected. 9. Construction Licences. This Module has provision to: Enter Application Details. Print Forwarding Letters. Enter Licence Fees. Print Receipt. Print Permission Letter. Print Occupancy Certificate. Maintain Construction Licences Register. View/Print List of Construction Licences Issued. View/Print Monthly/Progressive/Yearly. Statement of Fees Collected. 10. Trade Licences. This Module has provision to: Enter Details of Shops and Establishments. Enter Licence Fees Print Receipt. Prince Trade Licence. Maintain Trade Licensees Details. View/Print List for Renewal. Print Notices Print Monthly/Progressive/Yearly Statement of Fees Collected. 11. NOC for Water Connection This Module has provision to: Enter application details. Enter Fees. Issue Receipt View/Print NOCs Issued. Produce Monthly/Progressive/Yearly Collection Details 12. Electricity Connection This Module has provision to: Enter application details. Enter Fees. Issue Receipt. View/Print NOCs Issued. View/Print List of Licences Granted. Produce Monthly/Progressive/Yearly Collection Details 13. Certificates. This Module has provision to issue following Certificates: Residence Certificate. Income Certificate. Character Certificates. Caste Certificate. Marital Status Certificates. Marriage Eligibility Certificate. The Module will maintain details of all certificates issued. The Module has provision to enter fees details, if any, and print receipt. 14. Important Works. This Module has provision to: Enter Details of Works. View/Print List of Works 15. Panchayat Information; Resources; Infrastructure; Education Facilities; Industries; Hospitals; Others http://rural.nic.in/panchayatIT/goapanchayat.htm * * * In some states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa computers have been installed at the Village Panchayat level as well. http://www.i4donline.net/articles/current-article.asp?Title=Ministry of Panchayati Raj, India&articleid=2268&typ=features * * * GOA BROADBAND: The first phase of the Goa broadband network, connecting every taluka and district with 10gbps bandwidth is already complete, while the second phase, connecting panchayats in 403 villages with 1gbps connectivity, will be complete by December. Every household will get bandwidth of 2-10mbps by March. By December, district and village administrations will have one gigabits-per-second connectivity and within five months 320,000 households will have access to speeds of up to ten megabits per second. http://www.utltraining.com/news-goa-iptv.htm [2007] * * * According to the state DIT sources, the second phase of connecting all village Panchayats with the Taluka headquarters through 1 Gbps link will be completed by March 2008. http://www.igovernment.in/site/pm-launches-goa-broadband-network/ * * * Name of State GOA Total number of Blocks in the state 11 Number of Blocks(district wise) where computing facility is available. 11 Total number of village Panchayats in the State 189 Number of village Panchayats where some sort of computing facility is available. 189 http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50145 -- FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/fn M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490 http://fredericknoronha.multiply.com/ http://goa1556.goa-india.org "This must be Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays." - Arthur Dent
