Jammu Kashmir Awarded 1,000 Gram Panchayat Bhawans, 1,318 Computers Under RGSA | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has been flagged as a major recipient under the revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan with approval for 1,000 Gram Panchayat bhawans and 1,318 computers, even as the number of PRI functionaries and elected representatives reported trained in the Union Territory fell sharply from 350,026 in 2023–24 to 82,534 in 2024–25. The figures were shared by Ministry of Panchayati Raj in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The ministry’s statement shows that Jammu and Kashmir received central releases under RGSA amounting to Rs 25 crore in 2020–21 and Rs 65 crore in both 2023–24 and 2024–25. Utilisation patterns vary: utilisation for 2023–24 is recorded at Rs 98.61 crore and for 2024–25 at Rs 57.89 crore. The document notes that “funds utilised” figures include matching state share and unspent balances carried forward, which explains why utilisation in some years exceeds the year’s releases. Still, the volatility in year to year disbursements and utilisation merits scrutiny from both the Centre and the UT administration.

On training, the RGSA returns show that Jammu and Kashmir benefited from large capacity-building inputs in 2022–23 and 2023–24, with 284,138 and 350,026 participants respectively. That momentum appears to have evaporated in 2024–25 when the reported number fell to 82,534, and by November 25, 25 only 9,091 participants were recorded for 2025–26. Nationally, the ministry records more than 13.7 million participants trained under RGSA across the four years covered, but the decline in J and K’s annual training totals raises questions about continuity of programmes, data reporting, or operational challenges on the ground.

The ministry lists a wide range of digital and governance reforms intended to modernise the Panchayat tier — notably eGramSwaraj for digital planning and payments, Meri Panchayat for public information, the ePanchayat audit tool, the Samarth app for local tax demand generation, and the AI-enabled SabhaSaar application to auto-generate minutes from Gram Sabha audio and video. The document also points to integrations with the Government e-Marketplace and the Bhashini translation platform to widen language access. In theory, these platforms should make training both more effective and more scalable; in practice, the gulf between infrastructure provision and sustained human capacity remains the key operational issue.

The approval of 1,000 Gram Panchayat bhawans in Jammu and Kashmir is a striking commitment of brick and mortar. The annexure shows that, nationally, 13,342 Gram Panchayat bhawans and 55,587 computers have been approved since 2022–23 under RGSA, signalling the Centre’s preference for a mix of institutional infrastructure and digital tools. For a Union Territory like Jammu and Kashmir, where terrain, connectivity and local governance complexities vary widely, those bhawans could be transformational — provided they are properly staffed and linked to continuous training and support.