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28,000 gram panchayats to be connected under the Digital Maharashtra Drive by 2017-18, says CM
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will herald a digital revolution by connecting all 28,000 Gram panchayats in the 36 districts of the state by 2017-18. The project which will boost core sectors like primary and secondary education, health and agriculture has been allotted a strict timeline.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has grand plans for Maharashtra. He will herald a digital revolution by connecting all 28,000 Gram panchayats in the 36 districts of the state by 2017-18. The project which will boost core sectors like primary and secondary education, health and agriculture has been allotted a strict timeline.
Considering the importance and the scale of the project, a war-room has been set up which will be personally led by the CM and will continuously monitor the digital Maharashtra project. Considering the tight deadline, at least 5 major ministries along with the nodal department of ministry of information technology and telecommunications, have been instructed to expedite their projects across rural sectors.
Fadnavis has repeatedly pointed out that the digital revolution will not be able to achieve its desired aims unless it is supported by strong on-ground infrastructure in the health, education and the agriculture departments.
Fadnavis said, “Digital Maharashtra is going to be a reality as we work towards smart cities and smart villages. Our endeavour is to bring development in all sectors across the state. The Gram panchayats are going to be nodes, through which the digital revolution along with infrastructure would be strengthened to provide better health services, education, agriculture and security.”
The successful launch of the project in Nagpur has inspired the government to replicate the model in other gram panchayats too. Nagpur holds the distinction of becoming the first digitally smart district of Maharashtra with776 Gram panchayats having successfully executed the project.
The Nagpur pilot has established 4-Mbps connectivity with Wi-Fi facility which has enabled e-health, e-education and e-marketing across districts.
Fully recognising that the digital revolution will generate demand for better infrastructure and services in core sectors, the CM has shortlisted 5 critical mega-projects in core ministries to keep pace with the digital revolution.
The CM has the backing of the finance ministry which has already allotted ₹35,000 crores for socio-economy projects. Sources revealed, “The ministry of tribal welfare has a provision for allocating 5% of its budget for development work in gram panchayats. So, there is no need to provide additional allocations.”
The ministry of health and education also can avail these resources for upgrading its infrastructure in rural sectors.
To ensure 100% coverage villages under the digital Maharashtra initiative, a dedicated team has been assigned with ensuring that remote villages integrate with the project seamlessly. The CM launched the project from the heart of malnourishment, Harisal (Maleghat), directing his team to extend the project to all tribal belts integrating them in the mainstream.
* Read the original story by Shubhangi Khapre on www.indianexpress.com