About the SKOCH Challenger Award

• The SKOCH Challenger Awards are distinctive for its approach of selection of awardees, which is not based on the nomination but on discovery. 
• It is considered India’s Highest Independent Honour and is conferred after exhaustive research and expert evaluations. 
• The SKOCH Awards acknowledge people, projects and institutions that go the extra mile to make India a better nation.

Why in News?

Ministry of Panchayati Raj received the SKOCH Challenger Award under “Transparency in Governance” category for IT-led initiatives and transformational reforms leading to outcome-based performance improvement, better transparency and strengthening of the e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across the country.

The following are the initiatives of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj for strengthening e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions to enable them to discharge their mandated functions effectively while facilitating transparency, accountability and robust service delivery:

SVAMITVA Scheme

• SVAMITVA Scheme aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India, engaging the latest drone surveying technology, for demarcating the inhabitant land in rural areas. 
• Under the SVAMITVA Scheme, the first ever exercise undertaken to carry out property survey of all villages to provide Record of Rights to millions of rural property owners of inhabited area by issuing property cards to them for their immovable residential property.
• This is expected to pave the way to use their property as a financial asset for availing loans and other financial benefits from banks as in the case in towns and cities. 
• Besides, this will ensure modernised and digitised land records for an easier and efficient method of maintaining and updating the land records and bring transparency in the land records management system.

e-GramSwaraj

• e-GramSwaraj application provides single window with the complete profile of the Gram Panchayat, including Sarpanch and Panchayat Secretary details, demographic details of Panchayat, details of Panchayat Finances, asset details, activities taken up through Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), Mission Antyodaya survey reports etc. 
• The application aims to bring in more transparency, thus strengthening the e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across the country through decentralized planning, process reporting and work-based accounting. Furthermore, the application provides a platform for effective monitoring.

On-line Monitoring Systems of Central Finance Commission (CFC) Funds Flow & Proper Utilisation

• The Online Payment Module is one of its kind whereby Gram Panchayats are carrying out online payments to the vendors and service providers. 
• The main objective of introducing such a module is to have a sound financial management system in the Panchayats leading to their greater credibility and image. 

Audit Online

• The Fifteenth Finance Commission has prescribed for preparation of online audited accounts of the Rural Local Bodies (RLBs).. 
• In this regard, MoPR has conceptualized and developed an application called “AuditOnline” for online audit of Panchayat accounts in order to strengthen the transparency and accountability at grassroots level. It allows for online audit of Panchayat accounts and records detailed information about internal and external audit.
• It not only facilitates the auditing of accounts but also provisions for maintaining digital audit records pertaining to audit that has been carried out. This application encompasses to streamline the process for audit inquiries, draft local audit reports, draft audit paragraphs etc. 

ServicePlus

• ServicePlus – a versatile and secure solution for service delivery – makes all Government services accessible to the common man in his/her locality, through common service delivery outlets, and ensures efficiency, transparency, and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man.

Gram Manchitra – Geo-Spatial Planning Application

• Gram Manchitra is a Spatial Planning Application for facilitating and supporting Gram Panchayat users to perform planning at Gram Panchayat level with the use of geo spatial technology. ‘Real time’ monitoring of development work implementation status and progress of execution of various schemes can be easily tracked.

Reference:

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1689117