All gram panchayats in Bihar set to have their own websites

PATNA: In a bid to bring accountability and transparency in the system of rural governance, all gram panchayat units in the state will have their own websites, containing historical and demographic details of their respective jurisdiction, said the Panchayati raj minister.

The state panchayati raj department has approached the Bihar state Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (Beltron), National Informatics Centre (NIC), and other Central government institutions to develop a comprehensive website for each gram panchayats so that each and every activity, including the status of schemes, could be monitored from the state headquarters.

According to Panchayati raj minister Samrat Chaudhary the project to develop websites of all 8,387-gram panchayats would start once the department receives quotations from various government agencies. The websites are deemed to contain all demographic details, places of historical importance, and important institutions, besides details of elected representatives of the area.

“The websites shall be equipped with management information system (MIS) and Comprehensive Financial Management System (CFMS) so as to bring in more accountability for every pie of the fund spent on development and other activities in gram panchayats,” said the minister, adding that all elected representatives of gram panchayats and other functionaries would be trained to handle the websites.

Officials of the department said that digital education and skill empowerment to tackle digitised financial management systems had become a must in view of the huge flow of funds to the panchayati raj institutions across the state.

“This year, the department intends to spend a grant of ₹8,500 crore through gram panchayats on health, development, and governance sectors. Of the total, ₹3,900 crore has been earmarked for development and ₹1,150 crore on health sector. The fund has been made available to Bihar under the 15th Finance commission’s recommendations,” said a senior officer.

Chaudhary said that the state government has also allocated ₹3,261 crore as its grant for gram panchayats.

“Some financial irregularities had come up in the previous years and the department had to step in to check as most of the financial transactions were being done manually. Now, the department is insisting on a heightened system of financial monitoring for the gram panchayats’ spends,” added the minister.

The websites will be equipped with MIS and CFMS to bring more accountability SAMRAT CHOUDHARY, Panchayati raj minister