Zilla Panchayat tax collection leaves visiting Bihar MLAs impressed

September 8, 2011

Mangalore, September 9: Members of the Bihar Legislative Committee on Zilla Parishad and Panchayati Raj expressed their happiness over the better state of pachayats in the Karnataka, especially in terms of tax collection system.

As many as 10 members of this 18-member Committee were in Mangalore on Thursday. They are touring different parts of the country to study the panchayat raj system. On Thursday, they met the Chief Executive Officer of the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat K.N. Vijay Prakash.

"We want to see the system and suggest changes to our government. We want to imbibe the best practices and strengthen the gram panchayat system in Bihar. Our government wants to reach out to people in villages. We want to reach to the level you have reached," said MLA Anandi Prasad Yadav, who heads the 10-member team.

The members have already visited Bangalore and Mysore. They will be visiting panchayat in Kerala and Goa

Various issues

The MLAs were very curious about tax collection system from the gram panchayats. Mr. Prakash told the MLAs that the 203 gram panchayats in Dakshina Kannada were collecting 93 per cent tax. To this, MLA Bhumendra Narayan Singh said, "This is good. Our tax collection has been poor." Mr. Singh pointed that 42 per cent of Bihar population were below the poverty line.

The MLAs were also happy to know about education status of the panchayat members. "The members here represent in a better way. I found this while interacting with panchayat members in Mysore," Mr. Yadav said. They expressed their satisfaction over the water supply system and roads in the district.

The committee members were informed about the Total Sanitation campaign in all the 203 gram panchayats for which Nirmal Gram Puraskars have been awarded. They were informed about the e-governance at the panchayats and also about the campaign to ban the use of plastics. The members were inquisitive about the education system in the district, especially about deemed universities in the district.

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RuTAGe smart village centres in DK, Udupi to being technology closer to rural communities

News Network

January 20,2026

Mangaluru: In a major step towards strengthening rural innovation, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India is supporting the establishment of RuTAGe Smart Village Centres (RSVCs) across the country through collaborations with academic institutions, civil society organisations and philanthropic partners.

As part of this national initiative, Nitte (Deemed to be University) will set up the first RSVCs in the region at Nitte GP in Udupi district and at the Nitte Health Centre, Sevanjali Trust, Farangipete, in Dakshina Kannada district. The centres will be inaugurated on January 21. In South India, the programme is being implemented by the Section Infin-8 Foundation (SI-8).

Speaking to reporters on Monday, SI-8 founder-director Vishwas US said experts from Nitte University and SI-8 would work closely with farmers, students, youth and local entrepreneurs to adapt and deploy technologies tailored to local needs.

Project head Prof Iddya Karunasagar, representing Nitte DU, said the RSVCs at Nitte and Farangipete would serve as demonstration hubs for a wide range of agriculture, energy, skill-development and assistive technologies. These include solar dryers for fruits, vegetables and crops; soil-testing solutions; power weeders and women-friendly farm tools; wind-powered devices for rural artisans; grain storage systems; grass-cutting and tree-climbing equipment; and liquid fertiliser production using cowshed waste.

SI-8 CEO Aravind C Kumar said the centres would also provide access to digital and knowledge-based platforms such as ISRO applications, government scheme portals, market linkage tools and gamified learning resources, along with assistive technologies for persons with visual impairments.

Highlighting the broader impact of the initiative, Principal Scientific Adviser Prof Ajay Kumar Sood said it demonstrated how applied research could bridge the rural–urban divide and help create self-reliant, technology-enabled villages.

The initiative has been made possible through philanthropic support from Dr NC Murthy of ACM Business Solutions, LLC, USA. Dr Sapna Poti, Director (Strategic Alliances) at the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, said the long-term objective is to build self-sufficient, technology-driven communities capable of generating sustainable livelihoods on their own.

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