Tag / Gram Panchayat

by NNLRJ INDIA

Nyaya Panchayats

A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

 Government proposes to establish Nyaya Panchayats in every Gram Panchayat or a cluster of Gram Panchayats, for providing a system of fair and speedy justice, both civil and criminal, to the citizens at their doorsteps, outside the formal judicial system. The Nyaya Panchayats are proposed to be constituted through the election of the Nyaya Panchas by people residing in the area to which the jurisdiction of the Nyaya Panchayats extends. Provisions are proposed for the reservation for women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to ensure their representation in the Nyaya Panchayats. The Draft Bill defines the civil, criminal and additional jurisdiction of Nyaya Panchayats. In the Draft Bill, conciliation is proposed as a primary means of dispute resolution. Further, Nyaya Sahayaks, who will assist the Nyaya Panchayat in performing their function of dispute resolution, have been proposed. Nyaya Panchayats are proposed as separate and independent dispute resolution bodies, distinct from the Gram Panchayats.

The draft Nyaya Panchayat (NP) Bill was circulated to Ministry of Law & Justice, several other Ministries/ Departments and all States/UTs. Based on comments received, some modifications were made in the Draft Bill. The Draft NP Bill is again being circulated for inter-ministerial consultations.

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

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Project Directors of DRDAs to Constantly Endeavour to be Sensitive to the Livelihood Concerns of the People and Strive hard to Provide them a Decent Standard of Living

EQUALITY  INDIA NEWS / A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

The Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj  has called upon the Project Directors of DRDAs to constantly endeavour to be sensitive to the livelihood concerns of the people and strive hard to provide them a decent standard of living. Inaugurating a two day National Conference of Project Directors of DRDAs organized by the Ministry of Rural Development in New Delhi today he said the rights of the vulnerable group must be protected with passion and commitment.

“I am happy to inaugurate this conference. Conference of the Project Directors of District Rural Development Agencies provide an opportunity to review the progress of various rural development schemes of Ministry of Rural Development. It also enables the participant to learn the best practices adopted by the implementing agencies under various schemes. DRDAs play a critical role in the implementation of rural development programmes at district level. As such the congregation of Project Directors from all parts of the country in the National Conference of Project Directors provide a very important forum to discuss the important issues relating to the implementation of rural development programmes and also to learn important lessons by sharing the experience of each other with regard to implementation of the rural development programmes.

 India has made significant progress in poverty reduction since independence, but still an unacceptably high number of people are living below the poverty line in rural areas. The key challenge, therefore, is to ensure inclusive growth that leads to significant rural poverty reduction. Unless the fruits of this economic growth does not reach the rural areas of our country and particularly touch the lives of millions of poverty stricken people living there, this saga of growth will be reduced to a mere semantic.

Over the years there have been constant efforts to learn from implementation experience and bring suitable improvements and modifications in our policies yet the programmes have only met with random success in rural pockets.  The challenge, therefore, is to develop and run a transparent and efficient delivery system and this is one important issue on which I would like this assembly to debate on and suggest solutions.

 This Conference should also discuss ways of ensuring full involvement of Panchayati Raj Institutions, NGOs, Civil Society Organisations, private and public partners for the improvement of the economic status of our rural poor.   You must constantly endeavour to be sensitive to the livelihood concerns of the people and strive hard to provide them a decent standard of living.  The rights of the vulnerable group must be protected with passion and commitment.

Another major challenge before us is to effect convergences among various programmes of Rural Development and other social sector programmes like health, literacy etc. due to their obvious complementarities. A lot of thought and initiative is going at the Government of India level in this direction but the main convergence can only be brought about at the DRDA level.  The DRDAs, in fact, have been mandated to perform this function right from their inception.  What is required is the will and proper planning to bring about the convergence.

The Ministry is implementing many programmes for ensuring reduction in rural poverty and a better quality of life in rural areas.  The Government has put in place a framework of policies and programs, which seek to bring a holistic development of rural India through several flagship programs including the massive Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.  The Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is one of the flagship programme of the Government that directly touches lives of the poor and promotes inclusive growth.  The objective of the Act is to provide for the livelihood security of the households in the rural areas of the country.  This has been acclaimed as the world’s biggest wage employment programme and has provided a lot of succour to the absolute poor.  Since its launch on February 2, 2006, Mahatma Gandhi NREGA has generated 990 crore persondays, out of which 50% are women persondays. Persondays among SCs and STs is 52%. We have been able to effect financial inclusion by opening 10 crore accounts of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers.

Despite the significant progress made under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA there are still many challenges such as

(a)     Creation of quality assets.

(b)   Constant monitoring and training for field functionaries and adequate supervision to create sustainable and durable assets.

(c)    Numbers of complaints are increasing; Social Audit has to be enforced.  Ministry has issued a draft Audit rules, 2011.

(d)   Participatory planning at Gram Panchayat level and conduct of effective gram sabha.

(e)    Dedicated manpower at Gram Panchayats in form of Panchayat Development Officer and Junior Engineer States can follow their own rules for recruitment but the process should be transparent.   The consolidated remuneration for PDO and Junior Engineer will be Rs. 12,000/- and Rs. 10,000/- respectively.     States can pay more at their own cost.

(f)    Dissemination of best practices like social audit, mobile banking, convergence for sustainable development, help line etc.

(g)    Timely wage payment; Payment cycle of 15 days should be followed.   Appropriate structure be created for timely close of muster, MB recoding, issue of Payment orders, business correspondent could used effectively engaged.

(h)   Category IV works namely works on the land of SC/ST/BPL/IAY beneficiaries and small marginal farmers should be taken on priority.

As you are aware that CBI inquiry is initiated in some states regarding the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA works. I request you to be utmost careful in implementing this.  I will name districts like Barmer, Tirunamalai who have done excellent work in this scheme. The Ministry is working in overcoming the problems faced in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and I’m sure that we will be able to achieve the desired results.

In order to provide a holistic livelihood opportunity to the poor, Government has focused on both ‘wage employment’ and on ‘self-employment’. While the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA scheme focuses on ‘wage employment’, Swarnajayanti Grameen Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) focuses on self-employment.  As you know the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) is being implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development since April 1999.  The scheme aims to bring the assisted rural poor families (Swarozgaris) above the poverty line by providing them income generating assets through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy. Since inception of the programme about 41 lakh SHGs have been formed (after attrition there are 25 lakh SHGs of rural BPL) and 163 lakh swarozgaris have been assisted with bank credit & subsidy. During 2010-11 3.1 lakh SHGs formed and 21 lakh swarozgaris assisted with bank credit & subsidy. An amount of Rs. 4585 crore credit was mobilised during 2010-11 under SGSY and per capita investment was Rs.31300.

During the course of implementation, various studies on the scheme pressed the need for restructuring of the SGSY scheme. Keeping all the lessons from SGSY and inputs provided by various studies in mind, my Ministry has restructured the SGSY as the National Rural Livelihoods Programme (NRLM). NRLM is based on large scale successes in states such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. There social mobilization and building strong institutions of the poor have led to significant reduction in poverty and empowerment of the poor.

The objective of the Mission is to reach out to all the 7 crore rural BPL households in a time-bound manner to capacitate them to enhance their incomes on a sustainable basis to bring them out of poverty and ensure quality life for all. NRLM will attempt to bring all the rural BPL households under the SHG net by ensuring that at least one member of each household, preferably a woman member, is made a part of an SHG. We are planning for BPL survey and supervise it thoroughly and bring genuine people in the BPL list.

NRLM will seek to further empower the SHGs by federating them at higher levels like the village level, cluster level, block level and district level. The role of Banks will be of prime importance under NRLM as a source of credit for the poor at reasonable rates.  NRLM will focus on getting banks to lend to the poor by making them bankable clients through smart use of subsidy.

The second focus of NRLM would be rural youth of the country who are unemployed.  They will be supported through placement linked skill development projects through which their skills will be upgraded through short term training courses in sectors which have high demand for services. The mandate is to cover 1 crore rural unemployed youth by 2017.

 The Ministry has also started a scheme i.e Mahila Kisan Shashaktikaran Pariyojan under NRLM for providing the agriculture based livelihood to women farmers. The primary objective of the MKSP is to empower women in agriculture by strengthening community  institutions of poor women farmers and leverage their strength to promote sustainable agriculture.

 Access to livelihood alone can’t ensure a dignified life to the poor. Shelter is a basic need of an individual which is critical for determining the quality of human life.  A roof over the head endows a shelter less person with an essential asset and improves his physical and mental well being.  Hence, fulfilling the need for rural housing and tackling housing shortage particularly for the poorest is an important task to be undertaken as part of the poverty alleviation efforts of the government. The Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) is a flagship scheme of my Ministry to provide houses to below the poverty line (BPL) families in the rural areas.

                Now we will start BPL survey soon. I request you to see that it will be conducted sincerely and with proper supervision so that no genuine person will be left out of BPL list.

Provision of a decent facility for shelter is incomplete without proper sanitation facility. Keeping this in mind, my Ministry is also implementing Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) scheme which aims at improving the quality of life in rural areas by accelerating the sanitation coverage and generating demand through awareness, health education covering all schools and anganwadis. The thrust is on construction of household latrines, coverage of rural schools, solid waste management and provision of revolving fund to organizations that coordinate the activities. Recently my Ministry has enhanced the quantum of assistance for Individual House hold latrines room from Rs. 2200/- to Rs. 3200/- (3700/- for Hilly and Difficult Areas). Similarly the assistance for school toilet unit has been increased from Rs. 20000/- to Rs. 35000/- (38500/- for Hilly and Difficult Areas).  I’m happy to inform that assistance for Anganwadi Toilet has also been increased from Rs. 5000/- to Rs. 8000/- (10000/-) for Hilly and Difficult Areas).

These initiatives have been possible because of the proactive role played by you and your team in DRDAs spread all over the country.    We however, do not have any room for complacency in the coming years and we need to work harder to ensure that our endeavour of improving the lives of rural poor gather the right momentum in a prospering Indian economy”.

 Earlier welcoming the Minister the Secretary Rural Development Shri B.K. Sinha  said the challenge is to develop and run a transparent and efficient delivery system and ensure inclusive growth that leads to significant rural poverty reduction.

 The two day conference is being attended by the Project Directors from across the country and the senior officers from the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.

 The following major programmes of Ministry of Rural Development  will be discussed in detail in the  two days conference:

 Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

Rural Housing

Integrated Watershed Management  Programme

Total Sanitation Campaign(TSC)

 The issues relating to DRDA Administration scheme, Monitoring & Evaluation of rural development programmes , training, finance and accounts will also be discussed.

District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) is the principal organ at the District level to manage and oversee the implementation of different anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. The Project Directors who are incharge of the DRDAs have to carry out the noble task of ensuring that the benefits of these programmes are availed by the rural masses. A high degree of professionalism and dedication is expected from the Project Directors for handling this task.

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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 “ ( 2nd October 2009-2nd 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 12th 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 “ ( 2nd October 2009-2nd October 2011)

A nationwide sensitization programme was organized by Ministry of Panchayati Raj during the “ Year of Gram Sabha” ( from 2nd October 2009-2nd 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

Manmohan Singh, current prime minister of India.

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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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Panchayat Service Cadre

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Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Dr.C.P.Joshi today informed the Lok Sabha that Article 243 G of the Constitution provides that, legislature of a State may, by law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-Government. Availability of minimum core staff at Gram Panchayats (GPs) is essential to carry out their mandated functions including implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Responsibility of providing necessary staff to the Panchayats vests with the concerned State Governments. Since, many States/UTs have not provided adequate manpower at the GP level, it is proposed to utilise the administrative cost under MGNREGS for providing core professional staff to GPs. To begin with, selected GPs including those in Left Wing Extremism affected districts are proposed to be covered. To avail of this, State Governments/UT administrations will need to ensure that either a functional office building for GP is already in place or taken up or a Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendra has been taken up. Detailed proposals in this regard have been invited from State Governments/UT administrations.

The Minister was replying to a written question whether the Government proposes a dedicated Panchayat Service Cadre in the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts in all the concerned States and its likely hood of start in the remaining areas and whether under the said cadre of service only those States would be benefited, who have either completed or have started construction of the Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras under village Panchayats.

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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

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A SHAKTI VAHINI RESEARCH INITIATIVE

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