Socio-Economic Profile of Elected Women Representatives

SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

A study on Elected Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions had been commissioned by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the report was released in April, 2008.  This was based on random sample study.

According to the study, the data of the primary occupation of female Pradhans and Ward Members is at Annexure-I. The State-wise data of educational levels of Pradhans and Ward Members is at Annexure II and III.  The data of economic status is at Annexure IV and V.

This data is one of the factors that has  helped to chalk out the strategy for exhorting women,  at large, and, Elected Women Representatives, in particular, to avail  themselves of the measures initiated by the Government under different schemes for their robust participation in the process of decentralized governance at grass-root levels, taking up the issues that affect  women in Gram Sabha meetings,  their capacity building and  training, nurturing of their aspirations to become effective Stake-holders in the process of overall development and dispensation of social-justice.

The above information was given by the Minister of Panchayati Raj Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo in a written reply in the Lok  Sabha today.

ANNEXURE – I

 

Primary Occupation of Pradhan Female and Ward Member Female (%):

 

EWRs	Farming	Laborers	Working for Panchayat	Small business	Housewife	Others
Female Pradhans	9.6	2.1	31.5	0.6	51	5.2
Female Ward Members	13.2	9.3	15.1	1.1	54.4	6.8

 

ANNEXURE – II

 

Educational level of Female Pradhans (%)

 

	Female Pradhan
	Illiterate	Upto primary school	Upto middle school	Middle school & above	N
All India	11.4	19.8	16.4	52.4	907
Andhra Pradesh	12.5	20.3	28.1	39.1	64
Karnataka	34.4	21.9	25.0	18.8	32
Tamil Nadu	3.1	9.4	12.5	75.0	32
Kerala	0.0	0.0	6.3	93.8	32
Arunachal Pradesh	6.3	50.0	25.0	18.8	16
Assam	0.0	0.0	3.1	96.9	32
Manipur	0.0	0.0	0.00	100.0	16
Sikkim	18.2	9.1	18.2	54.5	11
Tripura	6.3	6.3	37.5	50.0	16
West Bengal	1.6	6.3	14.1	78.1	64
Orissa	0.0	9.4	21.9	68.8	32
Bihar	3.1	18.8	15.6	62.5	64
Madhya Pradesh	28.1	31.3	14.1	26.6	64
Chhattisgarh	3.1	37.5	31.3	28.1	32
Gujarat	6.1	15.2	21.2	57.6	33
Maharashtra	10.9	23.4	12.5	53.1	64
Rajasthan	23.4	35.9	18.8	21.9	64
Haryana	25.0	18.8	18.8	37.5	32
Punjab	18.2	15.2	18.2	48.5	33
Uttar Pradesh	19.1	34.0	7.4	39.4	94
Uttarakhand	3.0	18.2	15.2	63.6	33
Himachal Pradesh	0.00	12.5	15.6	71.9	32
Goa	0.00	0.00	20.0	80.0	15

 

ANNEXURE – III

Educational level of Female Ward Members (%)

 

	Female Ward Member
	Illiterate	Upto primary school	Upto middle school	Middle school & above	N
All India	26.6	19.2	17.1	37.1	3,973
Andhra Pradesh	34.3	20.5	23.0	22.3	283
Karnataka	26.4	15.3	20.1	38.2	144
Tamil Nadu	0.0	14.6	27.8	57.6	144
Kerala	0.00	1.40	5.6	93.0	143
Arunachal Pradesh	32.8	32.8	20.7	13.8	58
Assam	0.69	9.03	15.3	75.0	144
Manipur	5.6	4.23	8.45	81.7	71
Sikkim	4.8	33.3	9.5	52.4	42
Tripura	7.0	28.2	21.1	43.7	71
West Bengal	11.1	13.2	16.4	59.3	280
Orissa	8.28	39.3	27.6	24.8	145
Bihar	29.3	29.3	12.9	28.6	287
Madhya Pradesh	45.0	28.4	12.8	13.8	289
Chhattisgarh	24.5	33.6	23.1	18.9	143
Gujarat	20.6	12.2	20.6	46.6	131
Maharashtra	20.9	16.5	20.1	42.4	278
Rajasthan	51.0	29.4	10.1	9.4	286
Haryana	44.8	18.2	11.9	25.2	143
Punjab	29.1	17.2	23.1	30.6	134
Uttar Pradesh	51.6	12.0	14.8	21.5	432
Uttarakhand	17.6	15.2	16.0	51.2	125
Himachal Pradesh	13.6	10.7	26.4	49.3	140
Goa	3.3	3.33	6.7	86.7	60

 

Annexure-IV

 

 

Economic status of Female Pradhans (%)

 

	Pradhan Female
	APL	BPL	Not aware	N
All India	70.8	25.0	4.2	907
Andhra Pradesh	29.7	50.0	20.3	64
Karnataka	37.5	62.5	0.0	32
Tamil Nadu	65.6	28.1	6.3	32
Kerala	59.4	40.6	0.0	32
Arunachal Pradesh	56.3	43.8	0.0	16
Assam	100.0	0.0	0.0	32
Manipur	37.5	43.8	18.8	16
Sikkim	100.0	0.0	0.0	11
Tripura	37.5	62.5	0.0	16
West Bengal	82.8	15.6	1.6	64
Orissa	65.6	34.4	0.0	32
Bihar	75.0	23.4	1.6	64
Madhya Pradesh	57.8	37.5	4.7	64
Chhattisgarh	46.9	50.0	3.1	32
Gujarat	78.8	18.2	3.0	33
Maharashtra	64.1	31.3	4.7	64
Rajasthan	95.3	3.1	1.6	64
Haryana	87.5	12.5	0.0	32
Punjab	78.8	12.1	9.1	33
Uttar Pradesh	81.9	11.7	6.4	94
Uttarakhand	81.8	18.2	0.0	33
Himachal Pradesh	100.0	0.0	0.0	32
Goa	100.0	0.0	0.0	15

 

 

Annexure-V

Economics status of Female Ward Members (%)

 

 

	Ward Member female
	APL	BPL	Not aware	N
All India	48.6	41.1	10.2	3973
Andhra Pradesh	7.4	47.0	45.6	283
Karnataka	46.5	45.8	7.6	144
Tamil Nadu	17.4	75.7	6.9	144
Kerala	58.7	41.3	0.00	143
Arunachal Pradesh	31.0	63.8	5.2	58
Assam	51.4	41.0	7.6	144
Manipur	23.9	50.7	25.4	71
Sikkim	81.0	19.0	0.0	42
Tripura	26.8	73.2	0.0	71
West Bengal	60.4	36.8	2.9	280
Orissa	31.7	66.9	1.4	145
Bihar	21.3	65.5	13.2	287
Madhya Pradesh	40.8	45.7	13.5	289
Chhattisgarh	35.7	53.8	10.5	143
Gujarat	65.6	32.1	2.3	131
Maharashtra	65.8	28.4	5.8	278
Rajasthan	76.2	21.0	2.8	286
Haryana	76.2	23.1	0.7	143
Punjab	81.3	17.2	1.5	134
Uttar Pradesh	47.2	34.3	18.5	432
Uttarakhand	63.2	36.0	0.8	125
Himachal Pradesh	60.0	31.4	8.6	140
Goa	93.3	6.7	0.0	60

 

 

 

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National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) an Intensive Strategy under National Rural Livelihood Mission(NRLM)

EQUALITY INDIA NEWS / A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

One of the most innovative initiatives of the poverty reduction, the National Rural Livelihood Mission(NRLM) is all set to get a boost with the investment support by the World Bank under National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) to Ministry Of Rural Development. The Bank will provide soft loan worth US$1 billion (approximately Rs. 4,600 crores) with a maturity period of 25 years to provide quality technical assistance and results-based financing. NRLP is aimed at professionalizing the overall program management of NRLM and the distribution of project funds among the states would be based on the relative share of rural BPL population in the total states. It  will also make investments in developing a wider base of implementing partnerships with private sector, civil society, and other development institutions for bringing in new ideas, innovations, services, and delivery mechanisms.

NRLP will invest intensively support implementation of NRLM in 100 districts and 400 blocks of 12 high poverty states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu), accounting for 85 percent of the rural poor in the country. The aim is to create best practice sites and to develop them as local immersion locations and generate critical pool of social capital for catalyzing social mobilization of the poor and building quality institutions of the poor. While the tactics will vary with the location and the community needs, the intensive blocks will follow a certain sequence in which the project activities will be rolled out. The sequence will include the following:

1. social inclusion through participatory identification of the poor and universal social mobilization;
2. building institutional platforms of the poor in the form of SHG federations, producer collectives, etc.;
3. developing social capital in the form of trained community leaders, community resources persons and para-professionals providing livelihood services to the poor;
4. micro-planning and investments for livelihoods enhancement; (v) access to credit from formal financial institutions available in desired amounts and convenient repayment terms;
5. convergence with other entitlements and programs such as MGNREGS, pensions, etc.; and
6. building sustainable livelihoods options for the poor by developing activity/trade clusters supporting farm and non-farm enterprises focused on productivity improvement and market access.

Project Components of NRLP

 The activities detailed in the component description below, will provide the enabling environment for the effective utilization of all the resources allocated by the Government Of India to the NRLM.  With the exception of Component Two that will be implemented in the 12 targeted states, the remaining components will provide support at the national level to enable the smooth rollout of the NRLM throughout the country.

 1.      Institutional and Human Capacity Development:

 The objective of this component is to transform the role of Ministry Of Rural Development  into a provider of high quality technical assistance in the field of rural livelihoods promotion.  This component will finance primarily staff, technical assistance consultancies, and training and related course material. Support under this component will be for all states. To achieve the objective of this component, the proposed project intends to support the following activities:

Technical Assistance – establish teams of high quality professionals under National Mission Management Unit (NMMU) to provide technical assistance to the states in various thematic areas such as community mobilization, livelihood promotion, financial inclusion, human resource management, monitoring and evaluation, environment management, and fiduciary management, among others.  This team will provide continuous support to state governments in the implementation of the NRLM and related activities in the rural development sector.

Human Resource Development – To support development of partnerships with well-established training and research institutions in the field of rural development throughout India that can deliver focused training programs for successful implementation of the NRLM and related activities in the rural development sector. The activities supported will include curriculum development, design and conduct of training programs including e-learning and distance learning. Under this feasibility of establishment of a National Center for Rural Livelihoods will also be explored.

 2.      State Livelihood Support: 

 The objective of this component is to support state governments in the establishment of the necessary institutional structures and mechanisms for the implementation of NRLM activities from the state to the block level, including support to the formation of institutions of the rural poor. This component will finance livelihood grants to the poor rural households (i.e. SHGs/federations) to undertake productive livelihood activities as detailed in their livelihood plans, support for higher level producer institutions, producer groups, farmers’ collectives, and/or producer companies (PCs), technical assistance consultancies, training and related material, office equipment, and operational costs at the state level and below.  To achieve the objective of this component, following activities have been envisaged :

*State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLM) – To support the formation of an autonomous and professionally managed mission at the state-level for the implementation of the NRLM comprising of a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in themes like social mobilization, institution building, capacity building, microfinance, farm and non-farm livelihoods, and job employment, among others.

*Institution Building and Capacity Building – support the identification, selection, and mobilization of poor rural households into self-managed institutions, such as Self Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations. This would also include providing capacity building and training activities for SHG members and federations in livelihood activities, bookkeeping, financial literacy, and business education, among others.  Teams of livelihood professionals trained in participatory methodologies and community facilitation will be set up at the block/sub-block level.

*Community Investment Support – provide livelihood grants to the institutions of the poor to enable them to undertake productive livelihood enhancing initiatives.  In addition, the NRLP would facilitate the establishment of higher level producer institutions, producer groups, collectives, and/or companies.

*Special Programs – support for pilot activities that have potential for scaling-up and replication such as last mile delivery of public services including health and nutrition, implementing activities in high-conflict areas in partnership with civil society organizations, green opportunities, climate change-related activities, value-chain development, using new technologies for financial inclusion, among others.  Activities under special programs will be jointly decided by MoRD and respective states and will cover all States, including those States that are not directly participating in the NRLP.

3. Innovation and Partnership Support:

The objective of this component is to create an institutional mechanism to identify, nurture and support innovative ideas from across the country to address the livelihood needs of the rural poor. Support under this component will be for all states.  This component will finance pilot initiatives and technical assistance consultancies that support innovative livelihoods activities in agriculture, livestock, youth employment, among others, for rural poor households. Support under this component will be for all states.  To achieve the objective of this component, the proposed project intends to support the following activities:

*Innovation Forums and Action Pilots – support selected innovations identified through development marketplace-type forums that have the potential to be scaled-up in a viable manner in partnership with development foundations.

*Social Entrepreneurship Development – support the development of a network of grassroots innovators and social entrepreneurs, identified through a competitive process, at state and national level.

*Public-Private-Community-Partnership – To develop and support effective partnerships with the private sector, foundations public corporations, and civil society organizations on livelihoods development for the rural poor throughout the country.These could include ICT, agribusiness, commercial banks/MFIs and other financial service providers, and youth employment, among others.

 4. Project Implementation Support: 

 The objective is to strengthen the National Mission Management Unit for effective project management at the national level that develops key systems and processes for coordination and management of the proposed project and the NRLM. A dedicated National Mission Management Unit (NMMU) under the MoRD will finance technical assistance consultancies, training and related material, office equipment, MIS development, and operational costs for all states. Following activities are envisaged for this purpose :

 * National Mission Management Unit (NMMU) – To manage, deliver and support all aspects of not only the NRLP, but also the NRLM.

 *Monitoring and Evaluation – A comprehensive and robust monitoring and evaluation system will be established to track implementation progress and provide meaningful reports on household level impacts and implementation experiences to take corrective actions, if necessary.

 *Electronic National Rural Livelihoods Management System (e-NRLMS) and ICT: To  design, develop and roll out electronic National Rural Livelihoods Management System (e-NRLMS) for hosting and delivering variety of project services which will be Aadhar (UID) compliant and leveraged to deliver ICT based services to rural poor households in the last mile.

 *Governance and Accountability Framework – NRLP would support the development and roll-out of a user friendly and highly responsive governance and accountability mechanism.

 *Knowledge Management and Communication –The project will invest in a variety of products and services to enhance the generation and use of knowledge and communications as a key tool for enhancing the quality of the program.

The investment in one of the world’s largest poverty reduction initiatives would help in setting up of an institutional platform by mobilizing rural poor, particularly women, into robust grassroots institutions of their own where, with the strength of the group behind them, they will be able to exert voice and accountability over providers of educational, health, nutritional and financial services.

National Panchayati Raj Diwas Commemorated

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EQUALITY INDIA NEWS / A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

The National Panchayati Raj Diwas was commemorated today with a coll to work collectively and sincerely in empowering the Panchati Raj Institituons in the country.  On ths occation Union Minister of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh  gave away the Rashtryira Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar 2011, e Panchayat Puraskar 2011 and the prizes for The National Level Winners o Drawing Rainting and Essay Competitions held during The “year of the Gram Sabha “ ( 2^nd October 2009-2^nd October 2011) .

 Congratulating the award winners on the occasion Shri Deshmukh said the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24th April, 1993 has institutionalized Panchayati Raj through the Village, Intermediate and District levels Panchayats. The impact of the 73rd Amendment in rural India is very much visible as it has changed power equations significantly. Accordingly, Government of India, in consultation with the States, decided to celebrate 24th April as National Panchayat Day. He said this year, the theme of the event is “Roadmap for the Panchayati Raj(2011-16): A National Perspective” and  “Positioning the Gram Sabhas at the core of Panchayati Raj for true self-governance and ensuring transparency and accountability of the Gram Panchayats” .

The Minister said the Panchayati Raj Ministry Ministry has, in consultation with the States and Union Ministries finalized the Roadmap for strengthening of the Panchayati Raj for the next five year, to almost coincide with the 12^th Five Year Plan and hoped that  the Roadmap would provide effective decentralization agenda to the States and Union Ministries. Roadmap sets out strategies and action plan for real devolution of functions and funds, efficient and accountable Panchayats and true self-governance. He said  the Information Technology is a necessary  tool for transparency, disclosure of information and social audit, efficient delivery of services, improving internal management of Panchayats, procurement etc. And the first ever e-Panchayat Puraskar are being  given to those states who have implemented Model Accounting System for the Panchayats and PRIASoft well he hoped that this award will motivate other states to adopt PRIASoft urgently which is a highly user-friendly accounting software and would put daily receipt and expenditure of the Panchayats on line.

 Shri Deshmukh said the most important aspect of self-governance is devolution of Functions, Funds and Functionaries to the Panchayats. It is necessary for the states to expedite devolution of 3 Fs. The Union Government also has a critical role in the devolution of 3Fs because it makes increasingly large fiscal transfers to the States in the functional domain of the PRIs, mainly through CSSs and ACAs.

 The detail of award winners is as under:

 RashtryiraGaurav Gram SabhaPuraskar 2011:

 Gram Sabha, the  key to the self-governance, transparent and accountable functioning of the Gram Panchayat, and  a forum that ensures direct participative democracy, offers equal opportunity to all citizens including the poor, the women and the marginalized, to discuss and criticize, approve or reject, proposals of the Gram Panchayat and also assess its performance.

To highlight the importance of Gram sabha in self-governance and transparent and  accountable functioning of the Gram Panchayat, the  Ministry of Panchayati Raj  had  observed the “Year of the Gram Sabha”  , from 2nd October 2009 to 2nd October 2010. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has issued specific guidelines to make Gram Sabha  a vibrant forum for promoting planned economic and social development of the villages in a transparent way.

In order to appreciate and devise an appropriate structure of incentives and  to recognize and encourage the Panchayats for outstanding performance through effective Gram Sabhas,  especially in respect of improvements in the social and economic structure of the village, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has  instituted National level Awards for Best Gram Sabhas and name it as “ RashtriyaGaurav Gram Sabha” .

The broad objective for instituting this award is  toincentivise excellence in performance of   Gram Panchayats through effective gram sabhas. It is expected that the Award will not only be a step to energise the Gram Sabahswill encourage the Gram Panchayats to organise more gram sabhas and encourage people’s participation. The prize money for this award is Rs Ten lakhs ( Rs 10 lakhs only).  The Award money will be utilized by the Panchayats for public purposes such as augmentation of civic services like primary education, primary health care, safe drinking water, public utilities; provision rural infrastructure in the Panchayat jurisdiction etc.

It is very interesting to note that among the nominated Gram Panchayats for the RGGS Award 2011, three GP are headed by female Sarpanches. This list of awradees present an interesting representation of efforts made by the Elected Women representatives in excellence observance of “The Year of the Gram Sabha”.

 This year the following Gram Sabha s and Gram Panchayats have merited for RGGS 2011:

S.No.	Name of the District	Name of the Block/Taluka	Name of the Gram Panchayat/ Gram Sabha Nominated	State	Name of the Sarpanch(recipient of the Award)
1	Belgaum	Athani	Shiraguppi	Karnataka	Sri VineshIragoudaPatil
2	South Goa	Sanguem	KirlapalDabal	Goa	Shri Rama Sonugaonkar
3	Rajkot	Padadhari	Depaliya	Gujarat	SmtRasilabenDalsaniya
4	Rohtak	Rohtak	Assan	Haryana	Shri Raj Singh
5	Jalgaon	Chopda	Chahardi	Maharashtra	Smt. SangitabaiKoli
6	Ajmer	Shrinagar	Aradaka	Rajasthan	SmtRaheesaKhatoon
7	South District	Melli	Mellidara-Paiyong	Sikkim	Shri Ganesh Rahi

 I. e Panchayat Puraskar 2011

 This Year a national award in the category of e panchayatPuraskar has been instituted by MoPr in order to appreciate the excellent achievent of various States in the implementation of Model Accounting system for Panbchayats ( MAS) and PRIASoft. A prize money of Rs 50 lakhs for first prize ,Rs 30 lakhs for second and Rs 20 lakhs for third prize will be given to the winning states. It is expected that the prize money would be uti;lised for further strengthening / development  of MAS/ PRIASoft initiative in the state viz., provision of computers , training to concerned functionaries etc. It is pertinent to mention here that the MAS and PRIASoft has enhanced accountability and transparency of the Panchayats and also institutionalized robust but simple finanacial management system. This year  One First , two Second prizes and three third prizes are being given.The following States will receive the e Panchayat Puraskar:

 

	STATE	PRIZE	PRIZE MONEY
1	ODISHA STATE	FIRST PRIZE	RS 50 LAKHS
2	MAHARASHTRA	SECOND PRIZE	RS 30 LAKHS
2	TRIPURA	SECOND PRIZE	RS. 30 LAKHS
3	PUNJAB STATE	THIRD PRIZE	RS 20 LAKH
53	ASSAM STATE	THIRD PRIZE	RS. 20 LAKHS

 II.                       Prizes for the National level winners of Drawing Painting and Essay Competitions held during the “Year of the Gram Sabha “ ( 2^nd October 2009-2^nd October 2011)

A nationwide sensitization programme was organized by Ministry of Panchayati Raj during the “ Year of Gram Sabha” ( from 2^nd October 2009-2^nd October 2010). For this, the services of Directorate  of field Publicity ( DFP) , MoI&B was   availed for mass media awareness campaign at the grass root level, followed by national level for Drawing painting and Essay competitions.

 The DFP through  their Regional units  conducted  one programme per Unit, in one district under their jurisdiction.  The special programme designed by DFP for MoPR focused on Sensitizing the people on Panchayati Raj through film and other inputs material, oral communication based on various people centric schemes and important aspects of Gram Sabhaands Gram Panchayats followed by national painting and Essay competition open for all.

 The main objective of these competition were  , in one hand, to sensitize people on aspects of Gram Sabha / Gram Panchayat and various schemes of Panchayati Raj and  also to seek peoples participation including  one, in the last mile , to participate in this mass campaign for the Year of Gram Sabha.The participation of younger generation especially from remote areas , in these were overwhelming.

 The District and State level winners were judged by the Satte Panchayat Departments and Regional Units of DFP. Among the state level winners , the national winners of Drawing Painting and Essay competition on “ Active Gram Sabha”. The following are the national level winners.

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Dr. Manmohan Singh calls for decentralisation of self governance at the grass root level

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A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE / EQUALITY INDIA NEWS

The National Panchayati Raj Divas was today observed with a call from the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to act collectively in bringing decentralisation of self governance at the grass root level. He said thouth the concept of Self Government has now constitutional and legal recognition but still we have to go a long way. Dr. Manmohan Singh was addressing the Sarpanch and Village Pradhans came from across the country at a function organised to mark the enactment of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 from 24th April, 1993 which institutionalized Panchayati Raj through the Village, Intermediate and District levels Panchayats.

Dr. Manmohan Singh expressed gratitude to the whole hearted efforts of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in empowering Panchayats and said the impact of the 73rd Amendment on the administration of the country is very much visible and was his endeavour that today nearly 28 lakh people have a formal place in our democratic setup through about 600 District Panchayats, 6000 intermediate Panchayats and 2,30,000 Gram Panchayats.

The Prime Minister said Panchayats have a definitive role in preparing village level schemes on the basis of local needs and requirement. Panchayats also play an important role in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programe and the Indira Aawas Yozana. He said decentralized and perspective Planning is a pre requisite in the Backward Regions Grant Fund Scheme. This emanates from village level so as to cater the local needs. He said the government is considering on the means of capacity building of Panchayats so that they could deliver in a more effective and efficient way.

Speaking on the occasion the NAC Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi stressed upon the need to strengthen the Panchayati Raj institutions and called for Gram Sabha meetings regularly with a fair representation of women participants. She also called for utmost transparency and accountability in the working of Panchayats.

On this occasion the Panchayat Empowerment & Accountability Incentive Scheme (PEAIS) Awards for 2010-11 2011 were also given to the Government of Kerala, Karnataka, Sikkim, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana by the Prrime Minister and the NAC Chairperson jointly.

Earlier welcoming the Prime Minister and the NAC Chairperson the Union Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh said strengthening of Gram Sabha is a priority for his ministry as otherwise , the people of this country will be deprived of their legitimate rights.

Paying tribute to the efforts of Rajiv Gandhi in empowering the Panchayats the minister called for pooling in joint efforts.

Shri Deshmukh said for recognizing and encouraging the Panchayats for outstanding performance through effective Gram Sabhas, his Ministry has instituted “Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar”. He congratulated the Gram Sabhas and Gram Panchayats who have received this award. He said the Award money will be utilized by the Panchayats at its discretion.

Shri A.N.P.Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj while giving his vote of thanks said the most important aspect of self-governance is devolution of Functions, Funds and Functionaries to the Panchayats. It is necessary for the states to expedite devolution of 3 Fs. The Union Government also has a critical role in the devolution of 3Fs because it makes increasingly large fiscal transfers to the States in the functional domain of the PRIs, mainly through CSSs and ACAs. He urged the Prime Minister to give a major role in the 12th Plan to the Panchayats in planning and implementation of all Central & State Schemes.

The theme of the National Panchayati Raj Divas this year would be the “Roadmap for the Panchayati Raj (2011-16) : An All India Perspective with focus on Gram Sabha”. Accordingly, the “Roadmap for Panchayats challenges and way forward” will be presented in detail among the experts, academicians, editors of major newspapers/journals and officials during the day-long deliberations a day before the National Panchayati Raj Diwas . This document charts future path of decentralization agenda for the Panchayat bodies in India for 2011-2016 that would set out strategies and action plan to accomplish the desired goal. It is expected that this roadmap will lead strengthening of Panchayati Raj Institutions; real devolution of power; proper functioning of Panchayats; and establishment of efficient and accountable Panchayats.

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Trafficking of Minors

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EQUALITY INDIA NEWS / A SHAKTI VAHINI RESERCH INITIATIVE

Union Minister of  Panchayati Raj Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh today informed the Rajya Sabha that the Union Government has directed the State Governments to ask the village panchayats to play key role to curb trafficking of minors and school dropouts.Replying to a written question the Minister said as a sequel to the Integrated Plan of Action to Prevent and Combat Human Trafficking with Special Focus on Children and Women formulated by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, this Ministry has recommended to the States and UTs for certain activities, including the followings, to be performed by the Panchayati Raj Institutions:

(i)      Involve PRIs in playing an active role in prevention of trafficking. For this purpose, their capacities may be built-up through training programmes, exchange visits etc.

(ii)              Create awareness and sensitization programme for PRIs on trafficking and their role in preventing the same.

(iii)            Discuss the issue of trafficking in the three tiers of Panchayat and also in Gram Sabha.

(iv)            Set up monitoring committee with members from Gram Sabha, Self Help Groups, youth groups and community members to monitor the enrollment and retention of children in schools, especially girls.

(v)              Ensure that the Gram Sabha and Palli Sabha take up the matter with guardians of children who are not coming to school regularly.

(vi)            Involve community vigilance group in rehabilitation or reintegration of trafficked victims and to ensure that they are not re-trafficked.

He further informed that his  Ministry had also requested all concerned States / UTs to observe the period from 2.10.2009 to 2.10.2010 as the Year of Gram Sabha.  As per reports received from the States of West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Orissa, their Gram Sabhas actively discussed the issues relating to all round welfare of women and children.

Besides, his Ministry has requested Ministry of Women & Child Development to include the provisions in the guidelines of their scheme “The Integrated Child Protection Scheme” for inclusion of Panchayati Raj Institution in the management.  Where PRIs do not exist, bodies like Gram Sabha should be constituted for the purpose.  The Management of Cradle Baby Reception Centre should also include representation of Panchayati Raj Institution at the appropriate level.

 

Need to strengthen Panchayats for actual devolution of power -Dr. C.P.Joshi

Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Dr. C.P. Joshi has stressed the need to strengthen the elected bodies especially the Panchayats at the grass root level for the real growth of democracy and actual devolution of power in the country. Inaugurating the 10th Editors Conference on Social Sector Issues here today he said Panchayats are the grassroot democratic institutions and need to be further empowered through effective devolution of functions, finances and functionaries (3Fs) following the principles of subsidiarity and centrality of Panchayats. This would also ensure convergence of plethora of schemes and pooling of resources through holistic planning by Panchayats.

Dr. Joshi said the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) which was launched by the Government in January 2007 and intends to (promote decentralized, participative & holistic planning process, as an essential condition for getting BRGF grant. It bridge the critical gaps in development and (c) build capacity of PRIs & official functionaries. The evaluation study done recently shows that BRGF is extremely useful in meeting the local needs and PRIs and States have acquired good experience in planning and implementing the Scheme. Out of the plan outlay of Rs.4670 Cr. for 2009-10 for BRGF, Rs. 3240 Cr has already been released to States by 31st December 2009.

The 250 identified backward districts included districts where NREGA programme was being implemented along with 170 districts including 55 Extremist Affected districts which were also identified as the Most Backward districts by an Inter Ministry Task Group set up by the Planning Commission in August, 2004. The Task Group ranked districts on the basis of 17 chosen parameters relating to income deprivation, health and educational status and infrastructural inadequacy, summed up their ranks on the different parameters and arranged them on thebasis of their combined ranking to focus on relative deprivation levels. The Districts ranked lowest on the combined ranking list have been considered as the most backward in the country.

Another innovative initiative has been the inclusion of construction of Bharat Nirman Sewa Kendras and Panchayat Ghars under the expanded scope of works permissible under MNREGA. The scope of work under MNREGA has been expanded to include the construction of Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra (BNRGSK) at the Gram Panchayat and Block level. This is based on the demands made by states to strengthen the infrastructure at GP and Block level to enable an efficient implementation of MNREGA and to provide space for greater and more transparent interaction with the citizens. Panchayat Ghars would be developed as mini secretariat , as a forum for the rural people to meet, share and discuss their issues, to provide logistic support and as a record keeping facility center. Bharat Nirman Sewa Kendra shall be a single window for providing the information on MNREGA and provide feedback on the implementation of the program. Rural connectivity will also be enhanced. The idea is to slowly move from wage employment to self employment by providing skill development facilities to the rural people and in the process give a fillip to rural economy, Dr. Joshi added.

The press conference was attended by the Union Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Sisir Adhikari, Ms. Agatha Sangma ,Secretary Rural Development Rita Sharma, Secretary Panchayati Raj, Shri A.N.P. Sinha , Secretary Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Rajawant Sandhu along with the senior officials from the ministry of rural development and Panchayati Raj

(Release ID :57033)

A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

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National Consultation on the Development of an Index of Backwardness based on Block as a Unit

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NEW DELHI JANUARY 13,2010

It is high time that a composite criteria for identifying backward areas (with the Block as a Unit) based on indicators of human development including poverty, literacy and infant mortality rates, along with indices of social and economic infrastructure, should be discussed and developed by all the stake holders especially the Planning Commission so as to bring in New initiatives for a revamped and strengthened Panchayati Raj system in the country. This expression came from the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Dr.C.P.Joshi today at a National Consultation for Development of an Index of Backwardness based on Block as a Unit in Vigyan Bhawan New Delhi. He said The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) constituted by the Government of India under the chairmanship of Shri Veerappa Moily had also considered the entire gamut of identification of backward areas in its Seventh Report on Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution.

Dr. Joshi said the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) which was launched by the Government in January 2007. The programme is designed to redress regional imbalances in development by providing financial resources for supplementing and converging existing developmental inflows into 250 identified districts, so as to bridge critical gaps in local infrastructure and other developmental requirements that are not being adequately met through existing inflows. For the untied portion of funds, the sharing pattern is (i) every district receiving a fixed amount of Rs. 10 crores per year; and (ii) the remaining portion being distributed on ‘50/50 basis’ as per the population and the geographical share of the district in the total population/ geography of all backward districts. The 250 identified backward districts included districts where NREGA programme was being implemented along with 170 districts including 55 Extremist Affected districts which were identified as the Most Backward districts by an Inter Ministry Task Group set up by the Planning Commission in August, 2004. The Task Group ranked districts on the basis of 17 chosen parameters relating to income deprivation, health and educational status and infrastructural inadequacy, summed up their ranks on the different parameters and arranged them on thebasis of their combined ranking to focus on relative deprivation levels. The Districts ranked lowest on the combined ranking list have been considered as the most backward in the country.

He said in accordance with the recommendations of the Second ARC, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is considering adopting Block as a Unit of identification of backwardness and adopting suitable indicators for bringing in more focused interventions in these blocks.

He stressed the strong need to have wider consultations among other Ministries/organisations as well as independent experts who have written on the issue of inter / intra-State disparities.

Earlier inaugurating the discussion Shri A.N.P. Sinha, Secretary Ministry of Panchayati Raj said Governance needs to be particularly strengthened in more backward areas within a State. The role of ‘special purpose vehicles’ such as backward area development boards and authorities in reducing intra-State disparities needs to be reviewed. It is advisable to strengthen local governments and make them responsible and accountable. He said States have also been requested to compile the latest information in respect of these indicators and upload the same on the website of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Out of the approx. 6500 Blocks, data in respect of nearly 40 % has already been entered. States such as Andhra Pradesh have uploaded the updated information in respect of all the Blocks for 2008 and can be used for comparing with the 2001 data.

During the discussions as a preliminary exercise, the following identified indicators were discussed for developing an index of backwardness for CD Blocks:

Percentage of villages having paved approach roads; Percentage of land irrigated;Percentage of villages with safe drinking water; Percentage of villages with electricity; Percentage of Literate people; Percentage of villages with primary education facility;Percentage of villages with any health care facility; and Percentage of main worker to total worker.

The vote of thanks was given by Sh. Sudhir Krishna, Additional Secretary in the Panchayati Raj Ministry.

The one day long Consultation was attended by representatives from several States/UTs, Academics, Union Ministries and Planning Commission.

The Commission had also recommended the block as the Unit for planning and implementation for the purpose of NREGA in its Report on that programme. It stated that: “After the State specific Block level indices are worked out, they need to be applied not for a given set of development schemes but as general guidelines for allocation of resources for all development initiatives and in particular allocations from State and district level plan funds. Backward Blocks thus identified should also receive recognition for the purpose of allocations under the appropriate centrally sponsored schemes. In short, the strategy of reducing and minimizing regional imbalances primarily through targeting attention to Blocks identified as backward within the context of each State needs to be formally accepted by the Planning Commission.”

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(Release ID :56908)

A  SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION INITIATIVE

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