Latest news with #PanchayatBhavans
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Digital Gujarat? 467 panchayats of Gujarat still without computers, 111 offline
AHMEDABAD: Amid tall claims of digital rural development, Gujarat's ground reality tells another story. Fresh central data reveals that 467 gram panchayats in the state still lack a single computer. Adding to the irony, 111 panchayat offices don't even have broadband access. Out of the 14,648 gram panchayat buildings across Gujarat, these glaring gaps raise questions on the state's much-touted "Digital India" push. The digital divide in India's grassroots democracy came under sharp focus in the Lok Sabha when Samajwadi Party MP Devesh Shakya questioned the government on the lack of basic facilities like computers and internet in Gram Panchayats across states. Responding to the query, the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj laid bare stark numbers on digital readiness. In Gujarat, out of 14,648 Gram Panchayat Bhavans, 14,181 are equipped with computers but 467 still function without a single computer. Zooming out to the national level, the scale of deficiency looks even starker. Across India, as many as 56,387 Gram Panchayat Bhavans are operating without their own computers, undercutting the government's push for e-governance in rural India.
Hindustan Times
05-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
390 Varanasi gram panchayats now under CCTV surveillance
Villages in 390 gram panchayats of this district had been equipped with CCTV cameras to bolster security arrangements there as part of Operation Trinetra, a senior government official said, adding these devices were solar powered, and equipped with night vision and sound recording facilities. 'As many as 2,190 night-vision CCTV cameras have been installed in 390 gram panchayats of Varanasi...' said chief development officer Himanshu Nagpal, who is supervising the Trinetra initiative in the district. He added over the next two months, 1,500 more such cameras would be installed in the remaining 229 grams panchayats. A central command and control room would be set up at Vikas Bhavan from where all the cameras could be monitored, he added. On an average, five CCTV cameras were being installed to monitor the main streets and entry and exit paths in the gram panchayats. 'Panchayat Bhavans and government primary and upper primary schools in these gram panchayats have also been equipped with a CCTV camera each,' he added. All these cameras had been linked with police stations and offices of the block education officers of the respective areas, said Nagpal adding the BDO would monitor the schools through the cameras, said Nagpal. 'Control rooms are being set up at every developmental block and the cameras will be connected with them for regular monitoring,' he added.
