SRINAGAR — The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), Government of India, hosted a regional workshop titled “Seva Se Samriddhi: Regional Workshop on Panchayat-led Service Delivery” at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
Organized in collaboration with the Common Services Centre Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC-SPV) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the event brought together elected representatives, Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs), and senior bureaucrats from seven states and union territories: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. The workshop prioritized inter-state collaboration, financial technology deployment, and last-mile digital integration.
Digital Overhaul and Devolved Governance in J&K
Inaugurating the workshop, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha detailed the rapid administrative transition of the UT through a “People First” governance blueprint:
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Devolution of Power: PRIs have been structurally reinforced through the targeted devolution of Funds, Functions, and Functionaries (3Fs) alongside participatory planning.
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The Digital Leap: J&K has expanded its online public service catalog from a few dozen in 2020 to over 1,100 services today. Furthermore, more than 98% of Panchayats in the UT are now digitally connected.
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Public Access Frameworks: Community-facing initiatives such as Back to Village and Block Diwas were highlighted as institutional benchmarks that move grievance redressal directly to the village tier.
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Institutional Recognition: The LG lauded the introduction of a dedicated Gram Panchayat category under the National Awards for e-Governance, noting that MoPR secured four prestigious national e-governance awards this year.
Scaling Financial and AI Solutions Across 2.5 Lakh Panchayats
Addressing the summit, Union Panchayati Raj Secretary Shri Vivek Bharadwaj provided key data on the macroeconomic scale of India’s digitized rural governance network:
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Financial Pipeline Integration: Nearly 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats now utilize the centralized eGramSwaraj platform for decentralized planning, executive implementation, financial management, and statutory audits. Through the seamless integration of eGramSwaraj with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), over ₹3 lakh crore has been processed digitally.
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AI-Driven Inclusivity: The Ministry highlighted the widespread rollout of its proprietary, AI-powered platform SabhaSaar. The application automatically transcribes and documents local Gram Sabha proceedings in 23 scheduled Indian languages and has already been adopted by roughly 1.5 lakh Panchayats nationwide.
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E-Governance Laurels: Bharadwaj confirmed that MoPR’s tech initiatives clinched three Gold and one Silver Award at the National Awards for e-Governance 2026.
Felicitations for Last-Mile Excellence
The regional conference concluded with a formal felicitation ceremony recognizing local bodies and digital operators driving transaction volumes at the grassroots level.
Pandithpora Gram Panchayat (Kupwara District, Jammu and Kashmir) and Hudikeri Gram Panchayat (Kodagu District, Karnataka) were formally honored as the top-performing Gram Panchayats in service delivery. Alongside these local bodies, outstanding Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) hailing from all seven participating states were recognized for anchoring the CSC networks that facilitate digital, citizen-centric service delivery across rural India.
