Kapil Moreshwar Patil releases Report on Panchayat Development Index at National Workshop

Addressing the National Workshop, Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil stressed that all-around development and transformation of villages is not possible without the support of all stake-holders.

Report on Panchayat Development Index was released at the hands of Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil at National Workshop on Panchayat Development Index (PDI) here today.

More than 250 participants including Senior Officers of different Ministries and Departments of Government of India, Principal Secretaries along with the Senior Officers of the Departments of Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, Planning & Statistics and Programme Monitoring, Directors of SIRD&PRs, Senior Technical Officers of State NIC and Officials of SDG Cell and other key stake-holders participated in the National Workshop on Panchayat Development Index.

The main focus of the National Workshop was to develop strategic plan and roadmap on integration of Ministry's portal /dashboard to build data ecosystem, assess the schematic progress in alignment with LSDGs at Panchayat and institutional mechanisms for implementation of the Panchayat Development Index with active support of different Ministries / Departments, Panchayats and Knowledge Partners. The National Workshop was well received and proved to be remarkably effective at bringing all the stakeholders on board for paving the path for building robust mechanism for evidence based development at all levels.

In his address to participants, Shri Patil underlined that the Central Government under visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has intensified its efforts during the last more than nine years to support the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the best manner possible to ensure that the basic objectives of the Panchayati Raj are achieved in true letter and spirit. We have witnessed a quantum leap in the allocation of fiscal resources to Panchayati Raj Institutions to support various infrastructure requirements and developmental activities in rural areas. A series of pro-Panchayat initiatives have ushered in a new era in which Panchayats can come forward to decide their own destiny.

Addressing the National Workshop, Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil stressed that all-around development and transformation of villages is not possible without the support of all stake-holders. He emphasized that there is a need to work collectively in the right earnest to continuously encourage and incentivize the Panchayats in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in rural areas within a definite time frame. The Union Minister said, there should be healthy competition among the Panchayats on the parameters of overall development. He expressed that Gram Panchayats should also extend help to each other so that every Gram Panchayat moves ahead together on the path of progress and prosperity.

We have been taking many initiatives for strengthening and empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions, increasing the capacity of representatives of PRIs to fulfill their role and responsibilities and improving the efficiency, transparency of functioning and accountability of PRIs to contribute towards inclusive development, economic growth and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil.

Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj highlighted the need of evidence based Development Goals at all levels through Panchayat Development Index while addressing the National Workshop on Panchayat Development Index, and said that the Panchayat Development Index is a logical combination of various steps that we are taking for years, if Panchayats decide to attain the Sustainable Development Goals then they will find resources for it; lot of developmental work took place in past one and a half years.

Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj delivered keynote address on Panchayat Development Index to measure the incremental progress towards the achievement of Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) through Panchayats at National Workshop on Panchayat Development Index at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. In his address, Dr. Kumar said all States/ UTs deserve accolades and appreciations for their efforts in this direction; PDI exercise is a data intensive work; further added that we need to do evidence-based planning, resources must be deployed where required for overall development.

Shri Vikas Anand, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj while making Presentation on Report of Panchayat Development Index and Road Ahead for the institutionalization of PDI said that States/ UTs can also use the PDI for Panchayati Raj Awards and emphasised on adopting data-driven and evidence-based approach towards developmental activities.

Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil conferred a certificate of appreciation to the team of Maharashtra for their significant contribution to Panchayat Development Index.

Shri (Dr.) Bijaya Kumar Behera, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Member–Secretary of Panchayat Development Index (PDI) Committee made presentation of State's Initiatives on Panchayat Development Index and later deliveredvote of thanks at National Workshop. Dr. Behera said that as we prepare a report like PDI, we need a comparative picture; PDI Committee interacted with 19 States on their efforts to develop LIFs for implementation of LSDGs; a participatory and theme based planning process is adopted for development.

Smt. Jayashree Raghunandan, Former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu & Chairperson of the Committee on PDI said that data holds utmost importance for this entire process, data collection must be easy and simple, and training and capacity building crucial for data collection.

Smt. Uma Mahadevan, Additional Chief Secretary to Government of Karnataka highlighted State's initiatives over development of Panchayat Development Index and said that data belongs to all stakeholders and PDI is to be implemented in very meaningful way and perspective planning in Karnataka is sustainability based long term activity. Smt. Mandeep Kaur, Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government of Jammu and Kashmir said that we have done localized interventions and monthly monitoring of progress in Panchayats; UT of Jammu & Kashmir took first step, creating District Good Governance Index. Dr. Sandeep Rathod, Secretary to Government of Tripura said Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) in Tripura were motivated to participate in development of local indicator frameworks for LSDGs; State Policy on LSDGs keeping parity with MoPR Guidelines.

Smt. Radha Ashrit, DDG, DMEO, NITI Aayog & Member of PDI Committee, Dr. Mallinath Kalshetti, Director, SIRD&PR, Maharashtra, Smt. Aditi Das Rout, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development, Shri Amit Shukla, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Shri Sunil Jain, DDG, NIC, Shri V. Hedge, DDG, Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Shri Samir Kumar, Economic Advisor, Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Dr. Govind Bansal, Director (Maternal Health), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Shri Rajesh Gupta, Director, NITI Aayog, Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Director, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation and other senior officers of Government of India and State Governments shared their views and insights and enriched the deliberations during the National workshop.

(With Inputs from PIB)