Part I ==== "With the support of MORD and MIT , Govt of India, the P&RD Dept, Govt of West Bengal computerised 18 ZPs,92 Panchayat Samities and 382 Gram Panchayats as on 30/04/2007 With the support from UNDP under ICTD project the WBSRDA in P&RD Dept has a plan to cover 20 Panchayat Samities and 50 Gram Panchayats of Burdwan district by 2005-06 where Integrated Fund Monitoring and Accounting Systems will be installed at PS and Gram Panchayat Management System will be installed. Moreover 34GPs in 4 Panchayat Samities( AusgramI, Galsi I, Galsi II and BurdwanII) of Burdwan dist will generate their GIS maps for decision support system in plnning and monitoring of various development programmes. So far in Burdwan district 106GPs and 31 Panchayat Samitis could be computerised. The DRISTI pilot project has been awarded the Microsoft e-Governance Award 2006 on 28th September for the Excellent activities in promotion of Local Self Government..." Details at http://wbprd.gov.in/html/asp/news_show.asp?newsnum=001 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part II ==== "...The project involved expansion of existing PC infrastructure to ensure that software such as the Gram Panchayat Management System (GPMS), Integrated Fund Monitoring and Accounting System (IFMAS) and Rural Household Survey (RHS) could be installed and accessed quickly and efficiently by all Panchayati Raj institutions. A key mandate for this undertaking was to ensure that the planned infrastructure should not be impacted by rural environment conditions such as dust and power irregularities..." Details at http://www.infoworld.com/news/feeds/08/09/15/West-Bengal-govt-and-AMD-comple... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This should be the era of a neo-liberal Buddha. Cheers, CK Raju Kharagpur