Centre spent Rs 5,674 cr for computerisation of panchayats in Bihar

New Delhi, March 22 The Centre has spent more than Rs 5,674.70 crore for the computerisation of panchayats in Bihar.

Revealing this in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Kapil Moreshwar Patil, said the amount was released under the 14th Finance Commission during 2019-20 to the gram panchayats (GPs) of Bihar for delivering basic services and other infrastructural facilities for the people in villages.

"Since panchayat is a state subject, saturation of computerisation in the GPs is primarily the responsibility of the states. Hence, no timeline can be fixed by the ministry for saturation of computerisation in the state of Bihar," the minister said.

He said despite this, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj supplements the efforts of the states, including Bihar, through its schemes and programmes on a limited scale.

"Under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA), computers for 531 gram panchayats have been approved for Bihar. Further, the untied/basic grants under the 15th Finance Commission can also be used by the gram panchayats for computers," he said.

As per information available, 547 gram panchayats in Bihar do not have computers.