The Uttar Pradesh government has approved ₹278 crore for developing digital infrastructure in gram panchayats under the National Gram Swaraj Abhiyan. The plan proposes establishing District Panchayat Resource Centres and Learning Centres, with human resources deployed across state, district, and block levels.
While the initiative aims to digitize rural governance, similar past programs have faced operational hurdles. The AI Pragya scheme, launched earlier to train 10 lakh residents in artificial intelligence tools, has shown limited penetration in remote areas according to independent assessments. The current proposal replicates its multi-level committee structure, creating a State Advisory Committee chaired by the Panchayati Raj Minister alongside three additional oversight bodies.
The training curriculum for panchayat employees remains unspecified, though officials claim it will cover digital platform operations. No timeline has been disclosed for the project's completion, nor have specific metrics been established to evaluate its impact on service delivery.
The funding allocation comes as rural Uttar Pradesh continues facing connectivity gaps, with 2023 government data showing only 38% of villages having reliable internet access.
Critics note that without addressing this infrastructure deficit, digital governance initiatives may yield limited results. The Panchayati Raj Department has not clarified how the new centers will differ functionally from existing Common Service Centers already operating in many villages.
Implementation will require coordination across multiple bureaucratic layers, potentially complicating execution.
The program's success may hinge on overcoming UP's documented challenges in last-mile governance delivery, where schemes often face delays and uneven implementation. Monitoring committees will need to address these historical shortcomings to achieve the stated goals of transparency and efficiency.
