President of India, Droupadi Murmu presents National Panchayat Awards and inaugurates National Conference on Incentivization of Panchayats
For the holistic development of society, the participation of women is very
important: Droupadi Murmu
Urging holistic development of Panchayats, Giriraj Singh calls for saturation
of schemes in the Panchayats on the basis of the nine themes as laid out under
the UN SDGs
“Modi Government firmly believes the Panchayats have to be the focal point of
development”: Giriraj Singh
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu presented the National Panchayat
Awards and inaugurated the National Conference on Incentivization of Panchayats
in New Delhi today (April 17, 2023).
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that despite the rapid
urbanization over the past few decades, the majority of the population still
lives in villages. Even those who live in cities are somehow connected to
villages. The development of villages can lead to the overall progress of
the country.
The President said that Panchayats are not just a means of implementing
government programs and initiatives, but also a place to encourage new leaders,
planners, policy-makers, and innovators. By adopting the best practices of one
Panchayat in other Panchayats, we can quickly develop and make our villages
prosperous.
The President said that for the holistic development of any society, the
participation of women is very important. Women should have the right to make
decisions for themselves, for their families and for the welfare of society.
This right could be achieved through their empowerment at the family and village
level. She was happy to note that out of more than 31.5 lakh elected
representatives of local rural bodies 46 percent are women. She urged women to
actively participate in the work of the Gram Panchayats. She also appealed to
their families to support them in these efforts.
Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister of Rural Development and
Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh said there are 21 States that have made 50%
reservation for women in the 3-tier Panchayats. He called upon the remaining
States to provide reservation for women beyond the 33% Constitutional provision
in the Panchayats.
Calling for holistic development of Panchayats, Giriraj Singh said we
should plan a development model to take the Panchayats towards saturation of
schemes on the basis of the nine themes as laid out under the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
He said the Modi Government firmly believes the Panchayats have to be
the focal point of development.
“Earlier, the Government used to allocate just Rs.54 per person for
development under the Finance Commission, it has now been increased to Rs.700,”
he said.
The Minister said the Government is providing several schemes for the
welfare of citizens of the country. All these schemes including providing
foodgrains under the Garib Kalyan package would not have been possible without
the involvement of the Panchayats.
“In this Amrit Kaal, 75th Year of Independence, and 30 years since the 73rd Constitutional Amendment related to
Panchayati Raj, the time has come for the States to give the legal rights to
the Panchayati Raj Institutions,” he said.
Calling for saturation of schemes in the Panchayats by the line
Ministries of the Centre and the States, Giriraj Singh said 31 lakh elected representatives
have been imparted training towards sustainable village under the Gram Swaraj
Abhiyaan.
“The parameters for determining the vibrant Panchayats have changed to
include Carbon Neutrality, Water Sufficiency, Literacy and Employment
Generation. Earlier, just about 10-20% Panchayats were participating, today
more than 90% Panchayats have vied for the Awards,” he said.
The Minister said the youngest Panchayats in Jammu & Kashmir UT have
made commendable efforts towards the goal of achieving Carbon Neutrality by the
year 2030.
Giriraj Singh said drone flights have been completed in more than 2.5
lakh villages, property cards have been given in more than 64,000 villages and
over 57,000 rural residents have been provided property cards.
Highlighting that Bhu-Aadhaar and SVAMITVA Schemes have a huge potential
to transform rural India and benefit the rural populace, Shri Giriraj Singh
said, “under the SVAMITVA Scheme, Drone Survey has been completed in more than
2.35 lakh villages whereas 6.57 lakh villages, viz 95% of 6.62 lakh villages
have been provided with Bhu-Aadhaar under Unique
Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) project.”
Later, addressing the National Conference on Incentivization of
Panchayats, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Union Minister of State for Rural Development
and Steel, extended best wishes to all well-performing Panchayats. While
appreciating the awardee Panchayats for their valuable, remarkable and
outstanding achievements, Kapil Moreshwar Patil, MoS for Panchayati Raj, said
that national award is the endorsement of the exemplary work done by Panchayats
and the Best Practices should be replicated by other Panchayats. Shri Kapil
Moreshwar Patil said that the country cannot develop without the development of
the villages, and the Central Government provides adequate financial support to
the States for the infrastructure development in rural areas.Patil called for
concerted efforts by all stakeholders to localize the SDGs and realize thematic
goals in Gram Panchayats.
In line with the Prime Minister’s vision towards maximizing digital technology
for social benefit, Giriraj Singh later launched the GS NIRNAY, National Initiative
for Rural India to Navigate, InnovAte and
Resolve PanchaYat decisions, a mobile application of the Ministry of
Panchayati Raj aimed at empowering rural communities during the National
Conference.
Speaking on the occasion, Giriraj Singh emphasized the need for
enhancing rural governance through adoption of digital tools and technology. He
stressed the importance of leveraging technology to enhance the reach, scope,
and outcome of government actions in the course of development. He opined that
the administrative capacity and effectiveness of regional and local governments
must be enhanced, through the provision of technological tools and resources
for playing a meaningful role in the course of development. In this pursuit, GS
NIRNAY mobile app will be a game-changer for rural communities in India,
providing them with easy access to critical information discussed during a Gram
Sabha; acting as a means of verification of facts where necessary or in case of
queries that may arise regarding the resolutions undertaken during the Gram
Sabha. This would bring in more transparency and increase efficiency in the
functioning of Panchayats, which play a vital role in decentralized
participatory democracy.
The launch of GS NIRNAY marks a significant step towards realizing the
vision of 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance' at the grassroots level, and
is expected to accelerate the pace of rural transformation to achieve the
vision of Gram Swaraj laid down by Mahatma Gandhi.
Ranjeet Kumar Dass, Minister of Panchayat & Rural Development,
Government of Assam, Murari Prasad Gautam, Minister of Panchayati Raj,
Government of Bihar, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, Minister for Rural Development
& Panchayati Raj, Government of Manipur, Pu K Lalrinliana, Minister of
Local Administration Department, Government of Mizoram, Metsubo Jamir, Minister
of Rural Development, Government of Nagaland, Errabelli Dayakar Rao,
Minister of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development and RWS, Government of
Telangana and Satpal Maharaj, Minister of Panchayati Raj, Government of
Uttarakhand participated in the National Conference on Incentivization of
Panchayats and Award Ceremony and shared their views and vision of the State on
Localization of Sustainable Development Goals through Panchayati Raj
Institutions.
The Awardee Panchayats under various categories of National Panchayat
Awards–2023 namely, (i) Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat
Vikas Puraskar (DDUPSVP) for the performance under individual LSDG
themes, (ii) Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas
Puraskar (NDSPSVP) for the aggregate performance under all 9 LSDG
themes and green initiative related Special Categories, (iii) Gram
Urja Swaraj Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar and (iv) Carbon
Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar were felicitated by the dignitaries
and the award money was transferred digitally to the Awardee Panchayats on this
occasion.
For details of the National Panchayat Awards–2023 click here
A booklet on ‘Best Practices on Works of Awardee Panchayats’ was also
released by Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Rural Development and
Panchayati Raj and the first copy of the booklet was presented to the President
of India. Short films on (i) Journey of
Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) and Revamped National
Panchayat Awards aligning with 9 themes of LSDGs, (ii) Exemplary works of
best-performing Awardee Gram Panchayats and (iii) Gram Sabha
Proceedings Recording Mobile App (GS NIRNAY) were screened during the National
Conference which witnessed enthusiastic participation of more than 1,200
delegates from various States/UTs including a large number of elected
representatives and functionaries of Panchayati Raj Institutions.