On April 17, 2023, the President of India, Droupadi Murmu conferred the National Panchayat Awards 2023 and inaugurated the ‘National Conference on Incentivisation of Panchayats’ in New Delhi, Delhi.
- The President also inaugurated the National Panchayat Awards Week which was celebrated by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) from April 17 to 21, 2023 as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) 2.0.
- The National Panchayati Raj Day is annually observed across India on 24th April to celebrate the constitutional status accorded to the Panchayati Ray system.
-National Panchayat Awards 2023:
i.The National Panchayat Awards under different categories are conferred annually by the MoPR since 2011 to acknowledge and incentivize the best-performing Panchayats (local self-government bodies) across the country.
- National Panchayat Awards including financial incentives are given under Centrally Sponsored scheme of revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan to the best-performing Panchayats, in recognition of their performances.
ii.All the Panchayats will be ranked based on their performance under 9 Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) themes aggregating 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
iii.Primary objective of the award is to assess the performance of Panchayats in the attainment of SDGs, promote competitive spirit among them and catalyze the process of LSDGs through Panchayati Raj Institutions for attaining LSDGs by 2030.
- The award honour the best-performing panchayats across the country by assessing their performance in the attainment of SDGs.
iv.The 9 LSDG Themes are as follows:
- Poverty free and enhanced livelihoods Panchayat
- Healthy Panchayat
- Child Friendly Panchayat
- Water Sufficient Panchayat
- Clean and Green Panchayat
- Self-sufficient infrastructure in Panchayat
- Socially Secured Panchayat
- Panchayat with Good Governance
- Women-Friendly Panchayat
v.Categories:
Awards at National Level will be given to Gram, Block and District Panchayats under 4 categories as
- Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (DDUPSVP) (for the performance under LSDG themes).
- Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar ( for the aggregate performance under all 9 LSDG themes and green initiative-related Special Categories).
- Gram Urja Swaraj Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar
- Carbon Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar
Points to be noted:
i.Ngopa ( Mizoram) was awarded the Best Gram Panchayats/Equivalent Bodies, Ganjam (Odisha), was awarded the best district panchayat or zilla parishad and Hinjilicut (Odisha) was awarded the best block panchayat or panchayat samiti in India. Click here to know the full list of Awardees
- Ngopa village received an incentive award of Rs. 1.5 crore and a plague for their best performance in reducing of poverty, bettering livelihoods, maintaining cleanliness, promoting green initiatives, and excellent governance.
ii.The youngest Panchayats in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir have made commendable efforts towards the goal of achieving Carbon Neutrality by the year 2030.
iii.Parameters such as Carbon Neutrality, Water Sufficiency, Literacy and Employment Generation were included for determining the best-performing Panchayats.
iv.Currently around 90% of Panchayats have participated for the Awards but it was about only 10-20% earlier.
-National Conference on Incentivisation of Panchayats:
i.The MoPR conceptualized a series of Thematic Conferences for the National Panchayat Awards Week on the theme of “Panchayaton ke Sankalpon ki Siddhi ka Utsav”
- Under the series, five National Conferences covering 9 LSDG themes through Panchayati Raj Institutions and Way Forward for 2047 were organised during the National Panchayat Awards Week celebrations.
ii.A booklet on ‘Best Practices on Works of Awardee Panchayats’ was released by Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.
Note by President: The president insisted on women’s participation in the work of the Gram Panchayats.
- She noted that out of more than 31.5 lakh elected representatives of local rural bodies, 46% are women.
- The President stated that the development of villages could lead to the overall progress of the country.
Key Points:
i.Union Minister Giriraj Singh, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and Panchayati Raj, mentioned that there are 21 States that have made 50% reservations for women in the 3-tier Panchayats.
- He also called upon the remaining States to provide reservations for women beyond the 33% Constitutional provision in the Panchayats.
ii.Government’s allocation per person for development under the Finance Commission, which used to be just Rs.54 has now been increased to Rs.700.
iii.31 lakh elected representatives have been imparted training towards sustainable village under the Gram Swaraj Abhiyaan.
iv.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.
- Under the SVAMITVA(Survey of Villages Abadi & Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) 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.
GS NIRNAY App:
Union Minister Giriraj Singh launched a mobile application GS NIRNAY (National Initiative for Rural India to Navigate, InnovAte and Resolve PanchaYat decisions), for empowering rural communities during the National Conference.
- The app will enable easy access to critical information discussed during a Gram Sabha.
- The app would increase the transparency and efficiency in the functioning of Panchayats, which play a vital role in decentralized participatory democracy.
- The launch of GS NIRNAY is a step towards realizing the vision of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ at the grassroots level.
Short films on the Journey of LSDGs and Revamped National Panchayat Awards aligning with 9 themes of LSDGs, Exemplary works of best-performing Awardee Gram Panchayats, and Gram Sabha Proceedings Recording Mobile App (GS NIRNAY) were screened during the National Conference.
Additional info:
It has been 30 years since the 73rd Constitutional Amendment related to the Panchayati Raj in 1992 introduced the concept of gram panchayats, the third-level government.
Article 243 (b) defines the gram sabha, the basic unit of the Panchayati Raj Institution.
About the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR):
Union Minister – Giriraj Singh (Constituency- Begusarai, Bihar)
Minister of State (MoS) – Kapil Moreshwar Patil (Constituency- Bhiwandi, Maharashtra)
