With panchayats flush with funds flowing under various poverty alleviation and employment guarantee schemes, the government wants to keep a tab on its expenditure online.

The ministry of Panchayati Raj has advised the states/UTs to adopt the use of Panchyati Raj Institutions Accounts Monitoring Software (PRIASoFT) and Plan Plus under e-panchayat module.

In a letter sent to the states/UTs the ministry said "the adoption of an accounting system consistent with Model Accounting System (MAS) for the Panchayats, which would be greatly facilitated by PRIASoFT, is one of the performance conditions under 13th FC award".

“Implementation of MAS & PRIASoFT in all the states is, therefore, required urgently by training of master trainers at district/block level, who in turn could train GP Staff,” the letter sent to the states on May 31 said.

States like Gujarat, Kerala, W. Bengal and Karnataka that already have their own accounting softwares should align their system with PRIASoFT so as to integrate with other PES applications.

Plan Plus, a web-based software that captures the entire planning workflow starting from identification of needs, the plan approval process till the final approval by the District Planning Committee, according to the ministry, should be extended to all districts and for all central/state schemes and not be limited to BRGF, given its simplicity & versatility in matching wishes of people with available schemes/resources, their convergence, generating integrated plans and transparency & people’s participation in the whole planning process.

The ministry of Panchayati Raj is working with the ministries of rural development and finance for integrating different applications, such as PRIASoft, PlanPlus, NREGASoft, CPSMS, to facilitate uploading of information at a single point.

Similarly, flagship programmes like National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Sarva Siksha Abhiyan(SSA), etc. should be motivated to use e-Panchayat for the evident advantages. e-Panchayat Consultants could demonstrate PES to the respective State line departments.

The National Population Registry data should be hyperlinked to Panchayat Portal to know about houses without toilet, drinking water etc. BPL database of 2011 should be integrated with individual benefit  schemes like IAY/SGSY/NRLM and also Social security schemes. This would make PES more citizen friendly.