E-Gram Vishwagram Mission- by Maitri Vaghela, IEEE Member

Being a popular initiative of Government of Gujarat with the motto of making rural Gujarat witness the beneficial side of e-governance, E-Gram Vishwagram Mission has been successful in achieving its aim. This mission fulfils the requirements of rural Gujarat by providing services of government through the medium of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The objective of the mission is to develop village panchayats as points of delivery of e-services. The services are provided on the basis of special ICT application. This ICT application consists of a digitised databank of family information on the basis of which certificates are issued. Not only certificates, records and application forms are also handed over to rural citizens within their villages. The computerised records and forms that are accessible to villagers are birth, death and marriage; income; property; residence proof; tax; agriculture and land ownership. The services are provided at village panchayat which are equipped with a computer and internet connection. High-quality voice, video and data services in areas such as agriculture, health, education, and e-governance can be accessed. Hardware infrastructure at the village panchayat for this mission includes computers, software and accessories such as laser printers etc. Connectivity infrastructure of the mission is worth appreciating. It not only includes broadband internet connectivity through very small aperture terminal technology in all gram panchayats (village panchayat) but also has Gujarat state wide area network (GSWAN) connectivity up to taluka panchayat (district panchayat) and much more.

The e-services of this mission can be availed to the people with the help of Village Computer Entrepreneur (VCE). The VCE is a local under-employed youth with adequate computer skills appointed by the mission who delivers e-services on a revenue sharing basis with the village panchayat. He provides Government to Citizen (G2C) and Business to Citizen (B2C) services and also tackles data entry tasks and updating of records for the village panchayat. Appointing of VCE has been a boon for the mission because it has not only created an employment opportunity for the rural youth but also has generated an additional income for the gram panchayat.

The mission has not only been worthwhile for the rural citizens but it has also reaped benefits for the administration too. This mission has made the working of the departments facile and also has led to the electronic sharing of data and information. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has made communication between village panchayats possible without any trouble. Along with the village panchayat, even taluka panchayat can communicate with each other with the help of GSWAN and video conferencing.

This mission has also envisioned a Common Service Centre (CSC) scheme. It consists of setting up of IT-enabled access points of government and private sector services for all rural citizens. The mission has undertaken to establish 6000 CSCs, where one CSC will serve to a congregate of about six villages. The CSC will provide Government to Citizen (G2C) and Business to Citizen (B2C) services on commercial basis such as:
• Internet surfing
• Online payments and bookings
• Online education
• Online banking
• Online filing of bank returns
• Obtaining and renewal of license and permits
• Video conferencing
• Information updates for agriculture and other sectors
• Telemedicine and much more.
The mission is being implemented along the public-private partnership model where operations are deployed through competitive bidding and government possesses control over the activities. The organizations involved in this mission are Bharti Airtel, Reliance communications, NIIT, Google India, HCL and many more. The productive and effortless implementation of e-gram services are administered by E-gram Vishwagram society which has been established by government of Gujarat.
This mission has connected the government to the rural citizens in its true sense.