Lucknow: Director Panchayati Raj Atal Kumar Rai informed that Gram Sachivalayas have been established in all the Gram Panchayats of the state so that essential public services can be made available to the villagers in their own Gram Panchayat. He informed that till July 2021, about 33000 Panchayat buildings were renovated / repaired and Gram Sachivalaya was established by constructing Panchayat buildings in the remaining Gram Panchayats. In which about Rs. 5000 crore has been spent.
Rai informed that along with this, action was also taken to deploy a Panchayat Sahayak / Accountant cum Data Entry Operator in each Gram Panchayat for the operation of the Gram Sachivalaya, who remains present in the Gram Sachivalaya of the concerned Gram Panchayat during office hours.
Director Panchayati Raj informed that to develop the Gram Sachivalaya as an office, office equipment such as computer, printer, internet, chair, table etc. were also arranged in the Secretariat. He informed that apart from this, action was taken to establish Public Service Centers in the Gram Sachivalayas. In which provision has been made to provide total 243 public services to the rural people, the objective of which was that the rural people do not have to go to the development block / district level and these facilities are available to them at their Gram Panchayat itself.
Rai said it was found that some Gram Sachivalayas are not functioning and the Gram Panchayats are not making payments from the Gram Sachivalaya but from other places like cyber cafe etc.
To make the Gram Sachivalayas functional, it has been made mandatory that online payments through e-Gram Swaraj and P.F.M.S. in all the Panchayats will be made only through the computer system and internet installed in the Gram Sachivalaya. For its monitoring, Panchayat Gateway Portal was arranged in which Panchayat Gateway Portal was installed in the computer installed in the Gram Sachivalaya and through this portal, provision has been made to make payment by visiting e-Gram Swaraj/PFMS website, so that transparency of payment made by Gram Panchayats can be ensured.
Shri Rai informed that as a result of implementing the said portal, the state has succeeded in making Gram Sachivalaya functional in about 99 percent of the Panchayats of the state, but some Gram Panchayats were making payments from cyber cafes or other places or by using mediums like Anydesk/Temviewer by using the computer system of the Secretariat as a remote from any other place. This situation was against public interest and transparency in the expenditure of funds received by the Panchayats for development works. That is why, to keep the Panchayat Secretariats 100% functional and to ensure transparency and accountability in the Panchayats, a system was made to scan the face of the Panchayat Assistant and make payments from the premises of the Panchayat Secretariat itself, by incorporating modern technologies like GPS / AI on the Panchayat Gateway Portal.
The Director informed that in the last few days, it has been observed that some special persons / organizations are spreading the misconception through social media mediums such as WhatsApp, YouTube etc. that the department is affecting the independence and decentralization of the Gram Panchayats by using new technologies. This is completely baseless and misleading. He informed that the sole purpose of technological options like Panchayat Gateway Portal is to make the Gram Secretariats functional effectively. Along with this, the Gram Panchayats are committed to ensuring transparency and uninterrupted public services.
