Ahmedabad, Sep 23 : Surat-based Palsana Gram Panchayat has won the laurels for its distinguished service in digital governance and for adopting innovative methods in reaching out to the people.

It was honoured with the National e-Governance Jury Award at the 28th National e-Governance Conference held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday. The award was presented by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh for promoting digital governance, providing quality services to citizens, and innovative initiatives.

The award was received by District Development Officer Shivani Goyal, Deputy District Development Officer Piyush Patel, Sarpanch Pravinbhai Ahir, and Talathi cum Minister Pinak Modi.

The conference, organised as a joint venture of the Union Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), had received over 1.45 lakh entries from across the country. And, after multiple rounds of evaluation, it selected Surat-based Palsana Gram Panchayat as the winner.

The selection process for Palsana Gram Panchayat was first conducted at the taluka level, and then, after being declared the winner at the district and state levels, the Gujarat government sent its name to the central government.

A central government team inspected the selected panchayats, and finally, six panchayats were shortlisted, including Palsana. The panchayat presented its people-oriented work, including initiatives such as online tax collection, its own website, over 17,000 online applications, a CCTV camera system, and an online grievance redressal system. These achievements led to the final selection.

District Development Officer Shivani Goyal said that this honour is a matter of pride for the entire Surat district and added that more efforts to strengthen digital governance were being undertaken.

District Chief Bhaviniben Patel said that this honour is a proud moment for every resident of Surat district.

"This will help more villages become models of digital governance in the future," she added.

/IANS