India’s villages are the last stop in the government’s drive to digitize administrative planning and ensure a more transparent allocation of resources. But how effective is this digital push? Development worker Jitendra Pandit tackles this in his Field Report.
The community’s enthusiasm is palpable in Nandgaon, a village in the tribal district of Barwani, Madhya Pradesh, as people eagerly talk about their yearly village plan.
The Gram Panchayat Plan (GPP), which they proudly paste on the wall, clearly depicts the activities to be undertaken by different stakeholders – government departments, the gram panchayat and the community.
Unlike most typical village meetings where people usually gather to sort out their personal social security requirements, in Nandgaon those needs are already met thanks to years of community involvement and an easy embrace of digital solutions.
Nandgaon is not alone.
All over India villages are taking more direct control of their planning and finances after the introduction of several recent programmes, ensuring villagers are active participants in how money allocated to them is spent.
Under the People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) 2021, initiated by the central government, to integrate panchayat level plans with the Fifteenth Finance Commission, gram panchayats must submit their proposed spending for the next financial year using an online portal. This digital push, officially called the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), ensures transparency at all levels, bringing more economic development and social justice.
From India’s inception administrative planning at the village level has been a goal of every government with numerous schemes of different names and approaches. Few have succeeded in real grassroots decision making. In this latest avatar the PPC does something different by relying on digital applications and, thus, accountability.
Now, to get grant allocation from the 15th FC, it is mandatory to upload the Panchayat plans on the Egramswaraj portal, which is an upgraded version of Panchayati Raj Institution Accounting Software (PRISOFT), which had been used to track the expenditure and receipts of villages.
It is the first time that the digital highway is being used extensively to maintain transparency in letting the panchayats know what funds are available to them.
PPC guidelines mandate locals actively participate in how their village budget is spent and then upload their plans into a centralized portal. These plans can then be tracked, giving a greater degree of accountability.
The response is impressive. Already 24 states have uploaded more than 90% of their GPDP onto the portal.
A fundamental part of the GPDP is engaging the communities in planning and decision making. This is better where volunteers are coming forward to support.
Badlav didis, an initiative undertaken by the Transforming Rural India Foundation (TRIF) with the Azim Premji Foundation and other donors is one of the major milestones in this journey.
The cadre of badlav didis emerged during the village visioning processes. They have undergone rigorous training to support other women in the community.
Mission Antyodaya is another major intervention by the central government empowering villagers with critical information to converge the many varied government schemes under a single framework. Started in 2017, its overall mandate is to make the panchayat poverty-free and is intended as an initiative with gram panchayats as focal points.
Mission Antyodaya now lends support to the process of participatory planning for GPDP.
Nandgaon is one of the pilot villages in Madhya Pradesh, also supported by TRIF. Using a participatory, community-centric planning approach, the villagers fix their own responsibilities and prepare their own Community Action Plan (CAP). This people-driven approach, with a particular focus on vulnerable sections of the community, improves the quality of life of the overall village.
“We know how to see online scheme portals of around 12 schemes and the village youth can identify the issues (important to them) to discuss with the gram panchayat,” one of the members of the Nandgaon women’s self-help group said.
These efforts have caused a visible change in people’s lives and infused a tremendous sense of empowerment in the community.
However, the transition to digital means has presented challenges too.
The present process of PPC requires panchayats to use a series of digital applications. These apps track and monitor the process of planning right from a Mission Antyodoya survey as well as schedule the gram sabha, appoint facilitators, never mind upload the final plans.
To improve the familiarity with such applications, panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) require intensive training and handholding. Given the lower literacy rates and limited technological awareness in rural areas, the transition to digital mediums requires more work.
One Sarpanch from the Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh admitted that he felt excluded. According to him, handling digital applications and tracking the planning and financial progresses require a different set of skills and IT knowledge.
While digitization is bringing more funds, more participation, ownership and transparency, the gram panchayats are also realizing how difficult modern governance is. Many are finding it difficult to strike that balance between their community aspirations, the available budget and stringent guidelines.
It is important that the panchayat gets flexibility for planning and scope for them to embark on projects the community actually wants.
For instance, thanks to the data collected from the digitization process, it appears that most of the uploaded plans are infrastructure focused activities, which are not always what communities want. This is most likely because of the requirement that 60% of the planned amount should be allocated for water and sanitation and the rest for other activities.
The new digital portals and the guidelines for releasing funds should be able to incorporate individual demands for livelihood, community demands for creating a more developed village and departmental needs to ensure a fair and open system.
The Nandagaon plan is available here.
Jitendra Pandit is working with Transforming Rural India Foundation (TRIF) as senior Manager and leading a Support Unit for Transform Rural Area (SUTRA) unit embedded with Department of Panchayat Raj, GoMP
