Gram Panchayat

The Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj is undertaking several measures, including the use of community radio, to spread awareness against the "Sarpanch Pati" system, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The "Sarpanch Pati" system is a practice in which the husband of an elected woman sarpanch wields the actual power. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj SP Singh Baghel said various modes of information, education and communication activities, media engagement, conferences, seminars, training programmes, screening of public service awareness films, broadcasting of programmes through community radio were being done to spread awareness on issues such as the "Sarpanch Pati" system. Programmes such as "Jan Jan Tak Jankari" are being broadcast through 15 community radio stations in Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra on a pilot basis to create awareness about the practice of proxy-sarpanch, Baghel said. The ministry i

Own Source Revenue (OSR) generation for panchayats remains low, with the income through tax collected by the rural local governance bodies on an average being just Rs 59 per capita between 2017 and 2022, according to government data. Even as the generation of OSR for panchayats has come into focus to give these rural bodies more financial autonomy, according to the data compiled by the Panchayati Raj ministry, between 2017 and 2022, only an amount of Rs 5,118.98 crore was raised as OSR by the panchayats. This comes down to Rs 59 per capita and Rs 2.27 lakh per panchayat over the five-year period for 2.25 lakh gram panchayats across the country. The total population coming under these panchayats was more than 86.95 crore in the said period. Among the states, Gujarat collected the highest amount as OSR at Rs 829.75 crore, while Kerala came second collecting Rs 802.95 crore. Andhra Pradesh, which raised Rs 791.93 crore, occupied the third position, followed by Karnataka (Rs 627.56 ...

The Punjab Congress has sought postponement of the panchayat polls slated for Tuesday, alleging irregularities in the nomination process and also apprehending irregularities during the counting of votes. A delegation of the Congress, led by leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly and senior party leader Partap Singh Bajwa, on Monday met the Punjab State Election Commissioner here and urged that the polls be deferred by three weeks. Elections to 13,229 gram panchayats are slated to be held on October 15. Speaking to reporters after the meeting here, Bajwa said the delegation has requested the state election commissioner to postpone the panchayat elections by three weeks. He alleged that "massive irregularities" were committed during the nomination process as nominations of many opposition-back candidates were "wrongfully" rejected. Many candidates were not given no-objection certificates (NOC) required during the nominations filing, he alleged. Many people, whose nominations w

The Panchayati Raj Ministry has come up with specialized training modules for effective implementation of the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and is likely to hold a national conference later this month to discuss and advance the implementation of the law. The PESA Act of 1996 gives special powers to gram sabhas in a state's scheduled areas, especially for the management of natural resources. It is aimed at recognizing, empowering and promoting the social, economic, cultural and political way of life of the Scheduled Tribes. The ministry is likely to hold a national conference in Delhi on September 26 that will bring together policymakers, senior officers, panchayat representatives and other key stakeholders from the 10 PESA states to discuss and advance the implementation of the Act, an official said. The 10 states under the PESA Act are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana. Th

Around 400 women representatives from Panchayati Raj Institutions have been invited as special guests to the 78th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj said in a statement on Tuesday. According to officials from the rural development ministry, around 45 "Lakhpati Didis" and around 30 "Drone Didis" have also been invited as special guests to attend the Independence Day celebrations. They will be felicitated by Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday. The Namo Drone Didi and Lakhpati Didi schemes are among the important initiatives of the government for fostering economic empowerment and financial autonomy among women in rural areas. Under the Namo Drone Didi scheme, subsidies are provided to women self-help groups (SHGs) on the purchase of drones. A "Lakhpati Didi" is an SHG member whose annual income is Rs 1 lakh or more. The women Panchayati Raj representatives will be facilitated by Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ran

Mahatma Gandhi was a strong supporter of the Panchayati system because he believed that residents should be able to choose for themselves the best path for village development

The objective of Bima Vahak continues to be a women-centric, dedicated distribution channel that will ensure accessibility and availability of insurance in every nook and corner of the country

Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday called for greater coordination between village, block and district panchayats, and called upon representatives from the local bodies to ensure that sustainable development goals are met. Virtually addressing a National Thematic Workshop on Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) in panchayats being held in Srinagar, Singh said the Meri Panchayat Mobile app" launched on Monday will help increase transparency in the work of panchayati raj institutions. Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil attended the event. Singh lauded Sinha for the panchayat polls being held in the Union territory, and said local governance institutions will play a major role in writing India's development story. "We want our panchayats to be technologically enabled. This app is a new beginning in this direction," the minister said. "The Modi government has a target to fulfil the .

A 'Panchayat Development Index' has been formulated by the Centre to evaluate different indicators responsible for ensuring targeted development in villages, Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Kapil Moreshwar Patil said on Wednesday. The Index will be a compact statistical tool to measure and monitor development at panchayat level. On a pilot basis, data from four districts in Maharashtra -- Pune, Sangli, Satara and Solapur -- was compiled. Patil along with Panchayati Raj secretary Sunil Kumar and other government officials launched a report of the Panchayat Development Index Committee which will provide a way forward with Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs). "This is a huge achievement. Many times, even the sarpanch is not aware of where they stand in terms of development. The pilot project happened in four districts of Maharashtra, now they know where they are lacking," the minister said. "It will also help in preparing a roadmap for the future. There are nin

During below-normal monsoon years, MGNREGS acts as a cushion for rural labourers who find it difficult to get work in the fields and farms

To ensure cleanliness in villages, the Uttar Pradesh government will provide necessary training to local functionaries and sanitation workers, an official said on Tuesday. The official said around 83,000 people, including village pradhans, block motivators and panchayat assistants, will be provided training in batches in 20 District Panchayat Resource Centres and the Panchayati Raj Training Institute in Lucknow. In a statement, Additional Chief Secretary of Panchayati Raj Manoj Kumar said that 25,145 gram panchayats will be covered in the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) in this financial year. "Under this, a target has been set to cover 43,242 revenue villages. A number of campaigns will be launched to manage solid and liquid wastes, in addition to maintaining the achievements made in these villages during the first phase of the mission," Kumar said. He said that six master trainers have been posted at every training centre. These master trainers have recently be

Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday reviewed the progress of the project that aims to create 250 model gram panchayat clusters across India. Speaking on the occasion, Singh emphasised on a holistic development of the gram panchayats covered under 'Project for Creating 250 Model Gram Panchayat Clusters across India.' He stressed that Young Fellows working in remote areas should set an example with community participation to ensure that more children than ever receive quality education and students do not drop out of school, according to an official statement. Young Fellows may play a significant role in different thematic areas under Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) in Gram Panchayats, he said. The Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj also mentioned the importance of Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs). In another statement, the Rural Development ministry said it has been recognised for its software programme at the W

An organisation representing panches and sarpanches in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday opposed any move to prepone the panchayat elections and sought two-year extension for existing panchayats in the Union Territory. The Jammu and Kashmir State Election Commission (SEC) had on Monday issued its schedule for revision of the panchayat electoral rolls in the UT. All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) president Anil Sharma said the term of existing panchayats will be ending in November-December 2023 and there are rumors that the government may dissolve the existing panchayats and prepone the elections to the grassroots level bodies. "This (preponing of panchayat elections) is not acceptable to us and we will oppose it," Sharma told reporters here. The SEC released the schedule for revision of panchayat electoral rolls on December 12, leading to speculations that the government is planning to prepone the panchayat elections. As per the schedule, January 1, 2023 has been fixed as

In a bizarre incident, the district administration carried out a flag march with bulldozers ahead of the third and the final phase of panchayat polls in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district on Friday.

Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh and Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha presented the awards

Election was being held for 163 Zilla Parishad seats at 17,089 booths in 1,254 Gram Panchayats under 64 blocks in 27 districts of Odisha

The State Election Commission (SEC), Odisha, Monday asked the district collector of Bolangir to submit a report on the alleged auction of the post of Sarpanch in Bilesarda gram panchayat.

Gram Panchayat elections in Gujarat conducted on Sunday reported an average voter turn out of 60 per cent with reports of some clashes and complaints of breach of the code of conduct

Congress won all the seven municipal corporations in Punjab that went to the polls on February 14. Stay tuned for the latest news of the day.

There are 27,920 gram panchayats in Maharashtra. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news