Patna, Aug. 29: At a time when talks of “disconnect” between civil society and governments in the Centre and the states have hogged the limelight, there is a plan afoot in Bihar to provide a platform that would allow the civil society to have interaction with the government on a regular basis.

The state government is set to come up with a website, which would be dedicated to the voluntary organisations (VOs)/non-government organisations (NGOs) working in the state, for this purpose. The state is getting help from the Unicef for the project.

According to the plan, the VOs working here would be given the opportunity to register themselves with the government after which they would be given a user ID and a password using which they would be able to upload detailed information about themselves on the proposed website and also share the problems they face while working at the ground-level.

The government also intends to hold meetings with registered VOs from time to time to share details about its schemes and also to solicit views from representatives of the civil society about the steps needed for more effective delivery of benefits to the people.

“The website would provide a platform using which the VOs can share problems with the government and this input would be used by the government to take corrective steps,” a senior state government official, who is closely associated with the project, told The Telegraph, adding that the website was likely to be launched within a month. According to estimates, there are about 30,000 VOs working in Bihar at present.

The official said the step would also allow the state government to have authentic information about the VOs working in different sectors in different parts of the state. “Government can use this database for various works in which it needs to work with the VOs,” he added.

The official added that the interested NGOs would also be asked to upload their mobile numbers on the website so that the government could reach out to them through SMS when it has to inform them about schemes in which VOs have to play a key role.

The state government, on its part, would upload vital information like census details, list of below poverty line people and details of schemes, which are being run by the government.

“VOs can use these details while taking up projects as they would not have to look for other sources for gleaning these details which, otherwise, takes quite some time,” said the official.

The state government would use the details in one more way. It pertains to taking into account the fund flow to the state through the VO route while calculating the gross state domestic product (GSDP).

“At present the contribution of VOs in GSDP is not taken into account. Addition of this value would give a boost to GSDP,” said the official.

Praising the state government’s move, the state director of Bihar unit of Care India, Sujeet Ranjan, said: “Opening new channels of communication with the civil society would be of great help to those working at the ground as the existing system does not provide an effective channel using which VOs can put their points before the government.”

Asian Development Research Institute member secretary Shaibal Gupta, too, praised the move and said it would provide a new channel to the state government for feeling the pulse of the people.