An ambitious IT project of the Kerala government that has been successful in computerising village council functions will now help local bodies in other states go high-tech too.

Panchayat Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is in the state to oversee the functioning of village councils, said Saturday that the Information Kerala Mission (IKM) project would be used in other states.

"We request the IKM to work with officials in my department to replicate the work which they have done in using the benefits of information technology in the local bodies here in other states in the country as well," Aiyar said after watching a presentation of the IKM.

"Instead of having a single programme for the entire country, IKM can classify the states in the country depending on the level of progress that they have made in computerising their local bodies and then work out the programme," the minister told IKM officials.

The IKM project, set up primarily for a plan monitoring system for the local bodies in the state, was launched in 1999. It has succeeded in establishing efficient and responsive systems for good governance in local bodies.

The IKM officials are upbeat about the minister's suggestion.

"This is certainly a boost for our efforts and we will take up the request put forward by the minister," P.V. Unnikrishnan, executive mission director of IKM, told.

The IKM project has completed a comprehensive system study on various aspects of local governance and prepared seven volumes of manuals to be followed in local bodies. It has also developed software to ensure accountability, transparency and efficiency in local bodies.

Around 350 local bodies in the state have already computerised birth, death and marriage registrations. While 535 village councils are fully computerised, 272 are in the process.

The state has 1223 local bodies.