A panchayat in the tribal belt of Maharashtra has adopted paperless governance, courtesy the EOFIS system has brought its reach to the ground level.
Rohini located in Dhule district of Maharashtra, possibly a digital workplace solution for government offices, is the first village in the country to implement the EOPs system.
Vishal Narwade, Chief Executive Officer of Dhule District Council, said that this year the EOFIS system started in the village.
“It was mandatory for the district level from January 1, we extended it to the panchayat,” Narwade said. He said that Rohini is the first panchayat to work in paperless eofy mode, although there is no official data yet to confirm it.
Located on the feet of the Satpura hills near the state border with Madhya Pradesh, Rohini is a ‘Paes Gram Panchayat’, which is a word used for gram sabhas in scheduled areas, which is also known as the provisions of panchayats (expansion in scheduled areas) Act, 1996, also known as the PESA Act.
The population of the panchayat is a population of 7,200 spreading on main villages – Rohini – and 7 Hamlets (Jaganpada, Bomalapada, Chirkhanpada, Kalapada, Couple, Piplapani and Nawapada). Rohini Panchayat has more than 80% tribal tribals, mostly from Pavra tribe.
Till some time ago, the residents of the panchayat had to walk miles to avail the services as their haemlets were located 1-7 km from the Panchayat office. The arrival of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the village has changed the situation, the option of online service distribution and redressal of complaints with the residents.
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The people of Rohini Panchayat, who had a literacy rate of only 45% in 2011, now claim to have 100% digital literacy.
The panchayat uses at least eight different types of ICT platforms, including its own website that allows its inhabitants to avail various services. Others include digital platforms such as Egramswaraj, online participation decision for Panchayat Neene app, civil-focused service distribution through the Common Service Center (CSC), Panchayat ICT Lab, Videocarances Facility and Mary Panchayat App have been included for Grivens Redressal.
The latest IC Tit initiative is the introduction of the EOFIS system that helps village panchayat authorities send and receive files in electronic mode.
Talk to The Indian ExpressGram Panchayat Secretary Manoj Dilip Kumawat said that files are obtained from the Block Development Office and sent back using the eofy, which was introduced in February this year.
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Apart from its website, Rohini Gram Panchayat also has its own YouTube channel, Facebook page, Instagram account and a WhatsApp group. It also released its e-governance policy last year.
Narwade said that bulk SMS and calling systems are used to broadcast information about government schemes, gram sabha meetings are held in physical and virtual mode, where villagers join away and telemedicine facility is available from Primary Health Center to all Hamlets from the primary health center to the panchayat.
Rohini Sarpanch Dr. Anand Pawara said that the digital initiative launched by the panchayat has ensured effective implementation of government schemes on the land.
Block-level health officer, Prasanna Kulkarni said that the legs of patients, especially institutional delivery, have increased after adopting ICT.
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30-year-old Rohidas Surmal Pawara, a resident, said that he has availed online services to obtain birth certificates and register his complaints about drinking water and non-supply of electricity.
Digital Push has earned it as praise and award by Rohini Gram Panchayat. Recently, it achieved gold under a level initiative to deepen service distribution in gram panchayats or equivalent traditional local bodies under the newly added category at the National E-Governance Awards, in 2025-recognizes digital initiative by Panchayats.
According to officials, representatives of other pace gram panchayats have visited Rohini. It has been selected as the Panchayat Learning Center, which has been selected by the Yashwanto Chavan Academy of Development Administration in Pune, by the Administrative Training Institute of the Government of Maharashtra, Sharad Chandra Mali said, Deputy Director of the institute. For this, Rohini Panchayat received money of Rs 7 lakh from the central government, Mali said.
,The author was in Rohini village at the invitation of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj,
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