MoS (Panchayati Raj) Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil to inaugurate the National Write-shop on Preparedness of Roadmap for Revamped National Panchayat Awards tomorrow


Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil will inaugurate the National Write-shop on Preparedness of Roadmap for Revamped National Panchayat Awards in New Delhi tomorrow. He will also release the Operational Guidelines on the Revamped National Panchayat Awards.


The National Writeshop will provide orientation on Revamped National Panchayat Awards application process to States/UTs officials from line Departments, who will further percolate it upto Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in a cascade mode.


Under the revamped system, the Awards will be given to Gram, Block and District Panchayats in two categories namely, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (for individual theme-wise performance) and Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (for aggregate performance under all the themes). Thematic Selection Committees for each theme at respective levels will select the awardee Panchayats. Apart from this, some special categories of awards will be given to Gram Panchayats (GPs) namely, Gram Urja Swaraj Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar for adoption and usage of renewable sources of energy; Carbon Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar for exemplary work towards achieving Net-Zero carbon emissions; Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar for GPs which qualify and get shortlisted for National Panchayat Awards during the subsequent years also; Panchayat Kshamta Nirmaan Sarvottam Sansthan Puraskar for Institutions which have provided institutional support to GPs in achieving LSDGs and Best Participating State/UT/District/Block Panchayat.


Towards the endeavour of a successful implementation of the revamped National Panchayat Awards, MoPR is collaborating with nodal Central Ministries/Departments namely, Rural Development, Health & Family Welfare, Women & Child Development, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Social Justice & Empowerment and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. These nodal Ministries would be leading the Thematic Selection Committees for selection of National Level Awards on the concerned themes and the other line Ministries/Departments would be the members of these Committees.


Earlier, during 4th-6th July, 2022, a National Writeshop on Preparedness of Roadmap & Draft Plan of Action on Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) was also organized for States/UTs, inter-alia, discussing various convergent strategies for taking forward the intended plan.


Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Shri Giriraj Singh on 7th December, 2021 released the report on LSDGs through Panchayati Raj Institutions prepared by an Expert Committee constituted in this Ministry. The Committee in its report has identified 9 themes aggregating 17 SDGs for action at local (Gram Panchayat) level as a way forward for attainment of SDGs by the year 2030. These 9 themes are (i) Poverty free and enhanced livelihoods village, (ii) Healthy village, (iii) Child friendly village, (iv) Water sufficient village, (v) Clean and Green village, (vi) Self-sufficient infrastructure in village, (vii) Socially secured village, (viii) Village with good governance and (ix) Women-friendly village (earlier called as Engendered development in village).


Background


Panchayats play a pivotal role in implementing flagship schemes/programmes for attainment of SDGs. Incentivizing the Panchayats in form of awards is an integral part of creating a healthy and competitive ecosystem for holistic implementation of developmental plans. Therefore, Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has been incentivizing the best performing Panchayats/States/UTs through National Panchayat Awards under the Incentivization of Panchayats scheme, one of the central components of Centrally Sponsored scheme of revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA). These awards are usually given annually on 24th April, celebrated as National Panchayati Raj Day to commemorate the 73rd Constitution Amendment Act, 1992 which came into force with effect from 24th April, 1993.


To nudge PRIs for a systematic planning, implementation, monitoring and accountability towards achieving SDGs at the Panchayat level, the National Panchayat Awards have been revamped to establish a multi-level pyramidical structure of awards competition at Block, District, State/UT and National Level aligning it with 9 Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) themes with the aim to:


  1. Assess the performance of PRIs in attainment of SDGs through 9 identified themes
  2. Promote competitive spirit among PRIs
  3. Catalyze the process of ‘Localization of SDGs through PRIs’ and sensitizing the PRIs about significance of attaining LSDG by 2030


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Union Panchayati Raj Minister Shri Giriraj Singh releases the Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj


Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh released the Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 17th March 2022, through video conferencing. The Disaster Management Plan was released in the presence of Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Shri Krishna S. Vatsa, Member, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Shri Rajendra Singh, Member, NDMA, and other senior officers of the Government of India. Senior officers from the State Panchayati Raj Departments, State Disaster Management Authorities, State Relief Commissioners, also attended the event virtually.




Shri Giriraj Singh said that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has developed the Disaster Management Plan with an aim to develop disaster resilience at the grassroots level among the Panchayats and establish a framework to align the disaster management measures in rural areas to that of the National Disaster Management Authority’. He also added that the convergent and collective actions to envision, plan and implement community-based disaster management plans, would be a game changer for our country in managing disasters comprehensively.




The Minister called for people’s participation in preparedness for disaster management and mitigation activities at grassroots level. Union Minister underlined that the involvement of the community is the key factor in any disaster preparedness strategy and active participation of the community is vital to carry out and sustain the activities relating to disaster management in rural areas. He stressed on the need to formulate Panchayat-level and village-level Disaster Management Plans to mitigate the challenges in the event of disaster. He says disaster management should be kept in mind while making a master plan for the holistic development of Panchayats in the country.







Shri Giriraj Singh recalled that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi appreciated the role of Panchayats in the management and mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic, especially in creating awareness and leading our collective battle against Coronavirus in rural areas. Union Panchayati Raj Minister expressed hope that Disaster Management Plan framed by Ministry of Panchayati Raj would also contribute to the efforts of the Government in bringing convergence in disaster management and planning in rural areas.




Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj highlighted that the “Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj” (DMP-MoPR) has been prepared with larger perspective of community-based planning starting from Village to District Panchayat level. Under the Plan, every Indian village would have “Village Disaster Management Plan” and every Panchayat would have their Disaster Management Plan.




During the event, a brief presentation was made by Shri Krishna S. Vatsa, Member, National Disaster Management Authority in which he highlighted the important role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Disaster Management Planning and the need for developing a culture of disaster risk resilience in rural areas. The event also saw participation from Shri Rajendra Singh, Member, National Disaster Management Authority.




The DMP prepared by Villages and Panchayats in consonance with the Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj would be useful for addressing disasters in comprehensive manner. All stakeholders including PRIs, elected representatives and functionaries of Panchayats etc. would participate in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the plan.  It is believed that this plan would be extremely useful for ensuring a participatory planning process for DMPs which is integrated with GPDP for addressing disasters across the country and initiate new era of community-based disaster management, convergence and collective action with programs and schemes of different Ministries / Departments.




Background:




India has been vulnerable, in varying degrees, to many natural as well as human-made disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic and socio-economic conditions. Different parts of the country are highly vulnerable to cyclones, floods, droughts, earthquakes, landslides, etc. Considering the important role that local communities can play in reducing vulnerabilities and early recovery, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has prepared this Disaster Management Plan (DMP) so that all Panchayati Raj Institutions along with communities can be prepared for any disaster.




It is noteworthy that the Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj (DMP–MoPR) incorporates many innovations in addition to being in compliance with Disaster Management Act 2005, National Disaster Management Policy 2009, and guidelines issued by National Disaster Management Authority.




The Disaster Management Plan comprehensively covers areas such as institutional arrangement for Disaster Management; Hazard Risk, Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis; Coherence of Disaster Risk Management across Resilient Development and Climate Change Action; Disaster Specific Preventive and Mitigation Measures-Responsibility Framework; Mainstreaming of Community Based Disaster Management Plan of Villages and Panchayats and so on.











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Ministry of Panchayati Raj conducts A National Webinar to interact with Panchayati Raj Institutions

As part of Panchayati Raj Webinar Series in commemoration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Panchayati Raj organized a National Webinar to interact with Panchayati Raj Institutions in virtual mode on 25th October 2021. The day-long National Webinar was inaugurated by Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

During the inaugural session, Panchayati Raj Special Issue of YOJANA – leading monthly Government Journal on issues relating to planning and development brought out by Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was released by Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, MoPR, Smt. Monideepa Mukerjee, Director General, Publications Division, Shri (Dr.) Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary, MoPR and Shri (Dr.) Bijaya Kumar Behera, Economic Adviser, MoPR.

Speaking on the occasion, Smt. Monideepa Mukerjee, Director General, Publications Division stated that it is a matter of great pride for the Publications Division to bring out this special edition of Yojana on Panchayati Raj, through which we will be disseminating the success stories of several Panchayats across the country.

Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, MoPR opined that this special edition of Yojana would prove to be extremely beneficial, not only for the Panchayati Raj functionaries, but also for the general public at large, and academicians, policy planners, students and administrators can also assess valuable information concerning key issues relating to Panchayati Raj.

In his keynote address Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, MoPR set the tone for the National Webinar. He expressed satisfaction that the State of Karnataka has taken novel initiative to set up public libraries in Panchayat buildings; Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other States are also working in this direction. The public library set up in the Panchayat Bhawan will prove to be very beneficial and meaningful for the rural youth.

The Secretary said that Panchayats now have to work continuously towards achieving the aims of ODF Plus and Jal Jeevan Mission. Work should also be done in villages by making a solid strategy for solid waste management and complete ban on single-use plastic in the villages. While appreciating the role of Panchayats in the vaccination campaign, Secretary, MoPR called for playing an active role in COVID-19 vaccination for kids in future and expressed hope that availability of COVID-19 vaccine for children will pave way for school reopening and related activities. He said that a sum of Rs.44,000 crore has been allocated as grants as per recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission for strengthening of health infrastructure in rural areas. He appealed Panchayats to assume the leadership role in respect of issues of national priority and local concerns.

Shri Kumar said that Prime Minister had written a letter during the month of September 2020 to all Sarpanch(es) appealing them to work towards achieving the goal of “Har Ghar Jal (water for every household)”, and appealed to people and Gram Panchayats to make Jal Jeevan Mission a people’s movement. Panchayats can measure the importance of their role from the fact that Hon’ble Prime Minister’s letter dated 24 March 2021 on water conservation movement “Jal Shakti Abhiyan : Catch the Rain” was also addressed to all Sarpanch(es).

During the 4 technical sessions, experience sharing and deliberations were done on the following themes: (i) Role of Panchayats in Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachhta; (ii) Role of Panchayats in Health and COVID-19 Management & Vaccination; (iii) Increase in Own Source Revenue (OSR) by Panchayats; and (iv) eGovernance and Infrastructure in Panchayats.

Themes were selected in view of critical role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in planning, implementation and monitoring of Centrally Sponsored Schemes, including the flagship schemes, and also income generation and thereby contributing to nation building and also ensuring ease of living in villages.

Steps taken by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry’s views were presented through PowerPoint Presentations by Joint Secretaries and Economic Adviser, MoPR. Shri Manoj Kumar Sahoo, Director (JJM), Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti made a presentation on Role of Panchayats in Jal Jeevan Mission. Shri Vinay Thakur, Chief Operating Officer, National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) also shared his views with the participants. Shri Abid Hussain Sadiq, Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, Dr. Ravi Mittal, Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad Raigarh, Chhattisgarh and Dr. Rajendra M. Patel, District Development Officer, Vadodara, Gujarat also shared their experiences with regard to thematic areas.

Elected representatives and functionaries from different parts of the country shared their experiences and views during the four Technical Sessions of the National Webinar which was well attended and well received. In his concluding remarks, Shri (Dr.) Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj thanked all the participants for their active participation during the day-long interactive sessions and expressed hope that this webinar served as an opportune occasion to listen to the views, success stories and best practices in respect of different thematic areas directly from the ground zero, and we will continue interacting with Panchayats and other stakeholders quite regularly utilising each and every such opportunity. He underlined the need for collective efforts by all stakeholders to ensure all-round development in rural areas. Smt. Malti Rawat, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj proposed a vote of thanks on this occasion.    

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