The primary goal of the local government directory is to assist state departments in updating the directory with newly created panchayats/local bodies, re-organization of panchayats, conversion from rural to urban areas, and so on, and to make the same information available to the public.

The role of data in designing, delivering, and transforming public services to enhance outcomes and drive efficiencies within existing budgetary constraints is growing. More data than ever is available to inform digital tools and services and better understand user requirements and local places. Despite the dramatic rise in public institutions wanting to release their data publicly, realizing the full potential of open government data and helping all interested parties publish and consume it remains challenging. This difficulty is exacerbated by technological, governmental and legal, economic and financial, organizational, and cultural obstacles.

Cultural barriers are another factor preventing government data portals from attaining their full potential. Government agencies may be reluctant to share their information. It could be due to several factors, including apprehensions that publicizing official information could backfire or a lack of available resources. 

When data relating to the government is made available to the public, it is called "Open Government Data," a subset of "Open Data." Budget and expenditures, population, census, geographical, parliament minutes, etc., are just some data types that may be included in government datasets. It also provides climate/pollution, public transit, congestion/traffic, child care/education, and other data types that are 'owned' by public administrations but not directly by the government itself (through, say, a subsidiary or agency). Several nations have joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP), showing they are serious about making public records available.

Features

The following are the main features of the Local government directory:

• Generation of a unique code for each local government body - A unique code is assigned to each local government entity.
• Land region entities are maintained and mapped by local government bodies. Consider "gramme panchayat" mapping with villages as an example.
• Maintain the statewide general election and by-election process.
• Mandatory upload of Govt. order for each directory alteration - to assure users that the data published in LGD is authentic.
• Historical data maintenance entails archiving old values/data when changes are made in LGD.
• Provision for preserving state-specific local government structures.

The local government directory is suitable for the following:

•  Departments of the State Panchayati Raj
•  State Departments of Urban Development
•  Departments of Revenue in each state
•  Election Commissions at the state level
•  Licenced Software Applications
•  Citizens

The key features of the local government directory are:

•  Unique Code to Land/Region
•  Enable Interoperability
•  Notification generated online
•  SMS/Email notifications
•  GIS-based boundary

Local Government Directories

The following are the Local Government Directory (LGD) Codes:

• LGD Codes of State/UTs
• LGD Codes of Districts
• LGD Codes of Sub-Districts
• LGD Codes of Villages
• LGD Codes of Blocks
• LGD Codes of Wards
• LGD Codes of Local Bodies
• LGD Codes of Cantonment Boards

The following are the LGD Reports:

• Consolidated Report of Panchayats
• Report on District wise Blocks and Mapped Gram Panchayats/TLB
• Information on State Panchayat Set-up
• Information on State wise Unmapped Villages (Villages not mapped to any village panchayats/equivalent local body)
• Information on PC/AC Wise Mapped Landregion/LocalBodies/Ward
• Consolidated Report of Panchayats as available in other PES applications
• Information on Invalidated Local Bodies

While increased transparency is a welcome result of exposing government data, it is far from the only one. Open government data efforts have many effects, such as making citizens better informed through more accessible access to information, making the government more accountable, and giving individuals more chances to participate in decision-making.

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