Workshop on Gram Panchayat development

A Two day “Workshop with Young Fellows (YF’s) and State Program Coordinators (SPCs) on a thematic approach to Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) & Panchayats Development Index (PDI) began at NIRDPR-Hyderabad.

The officials from MoPR, more than 100 YF’s, and the SPCs of 250 Model Cluster Development Project and the faculty of NIRDPR attended the workshop. This national level workshop is being organized by NIRDPR on 11-12 July 2023, at its campus in Rajendranagar, Hyderabad

At the outset Dr A.K Bhanja ,Associate Professor & Centre Head , Centre of Panchayati Raj ,NIRDPR welcomed all the participants and explained the back ground and objectives of the workshop .He said the MoPR in March 2022, constituted an expert committee, under the leadership of Jayashree Raghunandan IAS (Rtd), to monitor the implementation of Localization of SDGs (LSDGs) through the PDI.

Accordingly, the committee has recommended 144 targets & 577 indicators to assess the development status of Gram Panchayats. These indicators are aligned with the SDGs and drive sustainable development at the local level. Dr AK Bhanja also informed that the Gram Panchayats while formulating the GPDP will take into account the local contexts in the achievement of SDGs right from setting targets to determining the means of implementation and using PDI monitor the progress.

Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, IAS, Additional Secretary, during his address to the participants said the LSDG and the PDI guidelines of MoPR provide the directions to the Gram Panchayats for identification and prioritization of issues perceived by the local community, ideation of context specific solutions and better utilization of available funds through convergent action.

Sri Sunil Kumar IAS, Secretary, MoPR delivered the key note address He informed that the implementation of PDI marks the beginning of journey towards achieving the SDGs in rural India. He pointed out that the Panchayats being the nearest institutions to villagers will design and implement locally relevant policies aligned with SDGs for achieving sustainable development. He said the PDI serves as a tool for bridging developmental gaps by monitoring progress at the Gram Panchayat level.