New Gram Manchitra App by Ministry of Panchayati Raj to Facilitate Better Rural Development

In order to encourage the Spatial Planning by the Gram Panchayat, Ministry of Panchayati Raj had launched the Geographic Information System (GIS) application “Gram Manchitra” (https://grammanchitra.gov.in). This application facilitates and supports Gram Panchayats to perform planning at Gram Panchayat level using geo-spatial technology. It provides a single/ unified Geo Spatial platform to better visualize the various developmental works to be taken up across the different sectors and provide a decision support system for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).

Further, Ministry has launched mActionSoft, a mobile based solution to help in capturing photos with Geo-Tags (i.e. GPS Coordinates) for the works which have asset as an output. Geo-tagging of the assets is done in all three stages viz. (i) before start of the work, (ii) during the work and (iii) on completion of work. This would provide a repository of information on all works and assets related to natural resource management, water harvesting, drought proofing, sanitation, agriculture, check dams and irrigation channels etc. Assets geotagged using the mActionSoft application are available on Gram Manchitra, enhancing the visualization of various developmental works in the Gram Panchayats.

The assets created under the finance commission funds are geotagged with the photographs of assets by the Panchayats. The GIS data of assets geotagged on the map of Panchayat can be visualized on the Gram Manchitra application. Gram Manchitra provides several planning tools that use Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to help Gram Panchayat officials develop realistic and achievable development plans. These tools provide a decision support system in the preparation of development plans viz. tools for identifying potential sites for development projects, asset tracking, estimating the costs of projects, and assessing the impact of projects.  This applications are being used in all States and UTs of the country, including Himachal Pradesh.
Under Digital India Programme, Ministry is implementing e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) with the aim to making Panchayats, more transparent, accountable, and effective as local self-governments. Building on the achievements in the past, the Ministry launched eGramSwaraj, a work-based comprehensive application for Panchayats under the e-Panchayat MMP on 24th April 2020. This application encompasses all aspects of Panchayat functioning viz. planning, budgeting, accounting, monitoring, asset management etc., on a single digital platform including online payments. So far, 2.44 lakh GPs have prepared and uploaded their Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs) for 2024-25. Further, 2.06 lakh Panchayats have already completed online transactions for 15th Finance Commission grants for 2024-25.  State wise adoption of eGramSwaraj is given below:

Adoption of eGramSwaraj at Panchayat level during FY 2024-25

S.

No

State Name Total Number of Village Panchayats &Equivalent Village Panchayat onboard Village Panchayats &Equivalent With Online Payment Total Number of Block Panchayats Block Panchayat onboard Block Panchayats With Online Payment Total Number of Zila Panchayats Zila Panchayat onboard Zila Panchayats With Online Payment
1 ANDHRA PRADESH 13325 13285 10657 660 660 572 13 13 13
2 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 2108 2100 63 0 0 0 25 25 3
3 ASSAM 2662 2197 1926 191 191 93 30 27 15
4 BIHAR 8054 8054 7120 534 534 451 38 38 35
5 CHHATTISGARH 11596 11594 9145 146 146 137 27 27 25
6 GOA 191 189 38 0 0 0 2 2 1
7 GUJARAT 14621 14588 9653 248 248 246 33 33 33
8 HARYANA 6225 6218 4419 143 143 102 22 22 22
9 HIMACHAL PRADESH 3615 3614 2550 81 81 43 12 12 6
10 JHARKHAND 4345 4345 3869 264 264 240 24 24 23
11 KARNATAKA 5953 5953 5731 238 232 54 31 31 17
12 KERALA 941 941 698 152 152 107 14 14 11
13 MADHYA PRADESH 23011 23003 22566 313 313 272 52 52 49
14 MAHARASHTRA 27820 27769 18449 351 351 174 34 34 32
15 MANIPUR 3180 161 17 0 0 0 12 6 3
16 MEGHALAYA 6817 0 0 2241 0 0 3 3 0
17 MIZORAM 842 834 754 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 NAGALAND 1289 185 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 ODISHA 6794 6794 5769 314 314 267 30 30 20
20 PUNJAB 13236 13207 4534 152 151 66 22 22 10
21 RAJASTHAN 11208 11202 8079 361 353 338 33 33 32
22 SIKKIM 199 198 145 0 0 0 6 6 5
23 TAMIL NADU 12525 12524 11045 388 388 385 36 36 36
24 TELANGANA 12771 12768 11194 540 540 422 32 32 31
25 TRIPURA 1176 1176 859 75 75 64 9 9 6
26 UTTARAKHAND 7795 7794 6690 95 95 92 13 13 12
27 UTTAR PRADESH 57691 57691 44538 826 826 788 75 75 75
28 WEST BENGAL 3339 3339 3327 345 345 344 22 21 21
Total 263329 251723 193835 8658 6402 5257 650 640 536

Also, for strengthening the transparency and accountability at grassroots level; the Ministry has rolled out an application – AuditOnline under e-panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP). It allows for online audit of Panchayat accounts and records detailed information about internal and external audit. For audit year 2022-23, 2.52 lakh Audit Plans have been created and 2.48 lakh Audit Report have been generated.

For attaining the vision of Digital India, BharatNet project is being implemented by Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in a phased manner to create network to connect all the GPs by broadband in the country. So far, 2.17 lakh GPs have been made Service Ready under the BharatNet project in the country. The scope of BharatNet on 30.06.2021 has been extended up to all inhabited villages beyond GPs in the country. The State/UT-wise details of Service Ready Gram panchayats is given below:

State/UT-wise details of Service Ready Gram Panchayats

Sr.

No

State Name Total GPs/ TLBs Service Ready GPs/TLBs Operational GPs/TLBs
1 ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS 70 81 46
2 ANDHRA PRADESH 13326 12967 5559
3 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 2108 1117 157
4 ASSAM 2662 1634 501
5 BIHAR 8054 8860 2892
6 CHHATTISGARH 11645 9759 1651
7 GOA 191 0 0
8 GUJARAT 14621 14559 11465
9 HARYANA 6225 6204 1941
10 HIMACHAL PRADESH 3615 415 276
11 JAMMU AND KASHMIR 4291 1113 454
12 JHARKHAND 4345 4646 2296
13 KARNATAKA 5952 6251 3659
14 KERALA 941 1130 946
15 LADAKH 193 193 40
16 LAKSHADWEEP 10 9 5
17 MADHYA PRADESH 23011 18105 2754
18 MAHARASHTRA 27911 24597 3877
19 MANIPUR 3812 1479 21
20 MEGHALAYA 6831 696 27
21 MIZORAM 841 529 61
22 NAGALAND 1304 233 13
23 ODISHA 6794 7099 3337
24 PUDUCHERRY 108 101 94
25 PUNJAB 13238 12807 9432
26 RAJASTHAN 11208 8997 6421
27 SIKKIM 199 54 6
28 TAMIL NADU 12525 9882 3449
29 TELANGANA 12771 10915 5812
30 THE DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN AND DIU 38 41 19
31 TRIPURA 1176 771 424
32 UTTAR PRADESH 57691 47341 3921
33 UTTARAKHAND 7795 2014 1127
34 WEST BENGAL 3339 2958 2319
Grand Total 268841 217557 75002

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