WB: E-governance project for Gram Panchayats

Kolkata, Sep 15: With a view to enabling effective governance through PC penetration within the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), the West Bengal government today announced the successful deployment of the Gram Panchayat e-governance project.

The deployment covers all 210 Gram Panchayats across 19 districts of the state to primarily bridge the digital divide and further socio-economic opportunities for its citizens and was initiated by the state Panchayat Raj and Rural Development department.

In order to ensure that most of the PRIs have at least one personal computer at its disposal, the state government provided three additional PCs per Gram Panchayat and five to six per Block.

The project was completed in association with National Informatics Centre, Kolkata unit, and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Kolkata.

''The aim of e-governance projects is to bring about a positive change in the development of rural areas. Our software such as the Gram Panchayat Management System (GPMS) is designed to provide effective and decentralised governance and elevate the standards of rural areas,'' Executive Director, CDAC, West Bengal, A B Saha said.

''We have been able to implement a cost-effective, innovative and standardised technology solution, which was extremely manageable and scaleable. Our department has been able to quickly and economically produce the required output, allowing us to provide higher quality services to our citizens,'' Joint Secretary, state Panchayat Raj and Rural Development department, Ranjit Kumar Maiti said.

AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processor based desktops have been deployed for the project.

UNI