From Paper To Portal: Goa Digitalises Village Panchayat Services
In a sweeping overhaul, almost all village panchayat services in Goa were being shifted online in a phased manner, bringing grassroots governance into the digital age, a minister has informed in the state assembly.
The shift to digital platforms will ensure people no longer have to physically visit panchayat offices for basic services, Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho said in the House late Monday evening during the ongoing monsoon session of the state assembly.
Godinho also said an Artificial Intelligence-based facial recognition attendance system across all village panchayats will be launched from August 1.
"From income certificates to house repair permissions, nine major services are already available online. We are working towards 100 per cent digitisation of all panchayat services," he said.
There are 186 village panchayats across both the North Goa and South Goa districts.
Godinho said services like the issuance of residence, income, and character certificates, NOCs for water and electricity connections, registration and renewal of trade and establishment licences, and permissions for house repairs are already available online.
From next month onwards, proceedings of the panchayat meetings and certified copies of resolutions adopted by the panchayats would be available online, he said.
"This will allow people to view decisions taken by their local panchayats, strengthening transparency and accountability," the minister told the House.
He acknowledged that some delays were being faced in hosting services online due to a contractor failing to deliver on time, but assured the government was accelerating the process.
The government plans to launch online services in five village panchayats initially, adding 20 to 30 more every month thereafter, Godinho said.
The state will digitise nearly 10 lakh house tax records and eight lakh trade licence records of all panchayats in the coastal state, he said.
In future, the services, including house tax payments, issuance of construction licences, occupancy certificates and applications for lease rent, will be added to the online portal, he said.
"I had promised in the last session that there would be reforms to bring more digitisation and streamline procedures at the panchayat level. We are on track to deliver that," Godinho said.
Speaking further, the minister also announced the rollout of an AI-based facial recognition attendance system across all village panchayats from August 1.
This system, which has already undergone a soft trial, will be supported by geo-tagging to ensure the staff attendance is marked only from designated locations, he said.
"If the attendance is marked from outside the designated area, the employee must provide a valid reason. This will help improve punctuality and discipline in the functioning of the panchayat staff," he added.
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News18
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'We may hasten to add that the land which is sought to be acquired is amongst the most fertile land in the State of Punjab and it is possible that it may impact the social milieu," said the division bench. Ludhiana-based petitioner Gill sought directions to quash the state government notification dated June 24 along with the land pooling policy 2025, being ultra vires and an act of 'colourable legislation", violating fundamental rights. 'We are prima facie also of the view that the policy appears to have been notified in haste and all concerns including social impact assessment, environmental impact assessment, timelines and redressal grievance mechanism should have been addressed at the very outset in the policy, before its notification. At this stage learned advocate general and senior counsel appearing for the state of Punjab submit that all concerns of the court shall be addressed by the next date of hearing and want some time in this regard. As an interim measure, lest any rights are created, the impugned Land Pooling Policy, 2025, notified on May 14 and June 6 and subsequently amended on July 25 shall remain stayed," read the court order. The order stated, 'after hearing submissions of all parties, this court is of the opinion that the state proposes to take over tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in the entire state of Punjab for carrying out its proposed development work, without carrying out any social impact assessment or environmental impact assessment study, although a stand is taken that the assessment would be carried out later when they have definite information about the number of land owners who have opted for the scheme." The court said it has been held by the Supreme Court in several cases that before permitting urban development, the State ought to carry out an environmental impact assessment. 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Swipe Left For Next Video View all 'That no such social impact assessment report was either prepared or published, as per the provisions of law, moreover, none of the Gram Panchayats or Gram Sabha were approached or consulted by the respondents before bringing the Land Pooling Policy 2025, which is clear disregard to the provisions mandated under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013," said the petition. The AAP government has been facing flak from the opposition parties and various farmer bodies, which dubbed its land pooling policy a 'looting" scheme to 'rob" the farmers of their fertile land. PTI CHS ZMN (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments News agency-feeds Punjab land pooling policy appears to have been notified in haste: HC Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. 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Hindustan Times
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Punjab land pooling policy appears to have been notified in haste: HC
Chandigarh, The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that Punjab's land pooling policy appears to have been notified in haste and concerns including social impact assessment and environment impact assessment should have been addressed before its notification. Punjab land pooling policy appears to have been notified in haste: HC A division bench of justices Anupinder Singh Grewal and Deepak Manchanda on Thursday had ordered an interim stay on the operation of the A government's land pooling policy for four weeks. The direction had come on a petition filed by Gurdeep Singh Gill, challenging the Punjab government's land pooling policy 2025. The court has fixed September 10 as the next date of hearing. In the detailed order, which was released on Saturday, the court noted that the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 bars the acquisition of multi-cropped land and such acquisition is permissible only in exceptional circumstances. 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