All Orissa gram panchayats to sport IT kiosks

Orissa government plans to set up one IT kiosk at each of the state's 6,234 gram
panchayats, of which 73 have been completed. Of these 73, about 40 have already got connectivity, informed Additional Secretary of the State Panchayati Raj Department, RN Dash.

"The kiosks are aimed at facilitating people from any corner of the state to access land records information at the district office or connect to the transport office for driving licenses. The kiosks are connected to state government offices or departments for information. Besides, forms for different government schemes are also
made available at those kiosks," Dash further informed.

The state government is providing subsidy to unemployed youths for setting up these kiosks. By running these kiosks, each operator would earn at least Rs 5,000 a month.

"We invited about 30 operators of the kiosks who have already got connectivity to Bhubaneswar and provided them formal training on how to run them. The training was conducted at State Institute of Rural Development from April 5 to April 7," he added.

The operators were provided training on Empowering Communities through Knowledge
(ECKO), a content management system for communities. It is designed to provide mechanisms for creating , capturing, sharing and utilizing the local knowledge among community. UNDP and the state government jointly conducted the training program.

MANOJ DASH

BHUBANESWAR