Shimla: In Himachal Pradesh, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department has provided free internet facility to residents in their Panchayats. State Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anil Sharma inaugurated a hotspot system for this service in Mandi town yesterday.

media  reports that the facility will be provided in a phased manner to other panchayats also.Mandi is the first district in the state to get internet facility in Panchayats and nearly four hundred Panchayats would be provided dongles for this purpose. The people can use the free internet provided on any working day. This step would help in digitalization of the Panchayats. Besides this the services like E-Family Register, Digital Payment and other facilities can also be accessed easily. Later on the other Panchayats of the state would also be given internet facility.