Panchayats

Removal of women elected representative should not be treated lightly: SC

Removal of an elected public representative should not be treated lightly, especially when it concerns women belonging to rural areas, the Supreme Court has said as it set aside an order for removal of a woman sarpanch in a Maharashtra village. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan termed the matter as a classic case where the residents of the village could not reconcile with the fact that a woman was elected to the office of the sarpanch. The top court observed that it was a case where villagers were unable to come to terms with the reality that a female sarpanch would make decisions on their behalf and that they would have to abide by her directions. "This scenario gets further exacerbated when we as a country are attempting to realise the progressive goal of gender parity and women empowerment across all spheres, including public offices and most importantly adequate women representative in elected bodies, such instances at the grass-root level cast a heavy shadow on an

WB panchayat dept asks DMs for detailed report on roads damaged by floods

The West Bengal Panchayat Department has asked all district magistrates (DMs) to submit an immediate report on the condition of rural roads damaged by recent rains and floods, a senior official said on Friday. P. Ulganathan, secretary of the Department of Panchayats and Rural Development, has written to the DMs requesting a detailed report on the extent of road damage in rural areas, the official added. In addition to the roads, the department also requested information on the condition of culverts and other infrastructure that were affected by the floods. "The department has sought a quick report on how many kilometres of roads in rural Bengal were damaged, the type of damage and their present condition. The letter has also asked the DMs to mention how many culverts were affected in the floods," the official told PTI. The DMs were also asked to assess the cost of repairing the roads and replacing the damaged culverts, along with an estimate of the expenses required for the ...

Punjab: Bajwa hits out at AAP over nomination filing for Panchayat polls

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa hit out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) reagrding the complications being faced by candidates in filing nominations for Panchayat election in the state scheduled to take place on October 15.He accused government officials of being negligent, leading to uncerainity among candidates about reservations and other things related to nominations in different panchayat segments.Speaking to ANI on Saturday, Punjab LoP & Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said, "On the floor of the house, the Chief Minister of Punjab had assured that the Panchayat elections will be conducted in a free and fair manner. We informed the state election commissioner that for the past two days, no panchayat secretary, BDPO, Tehsildar have been sitting in their respective offices."Partap Singh Bajwa, along with other Congress leaders on Saturday, approached the Punjab state election commission to address the complications being faced by ...

Panchayati Raj Ministry to hold conference in Sept for PESA implementation

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

Three-Tier panchayat system is backbone of development: Tripura CM

He also urged all members to work towards ensuring a transparent administration.

Odisha govt to set up model school in every panchayat, says CM Majhi

The Odisha government has decided to set up a model school in each panchayat of the state, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said here on Thursday. While addressing an event here to celebrate Teacher's Day, Majhi said the model schools would be established to enhance the quality of education, and will be named after Odisha's first Education Minister Godabarisha Mishra. There are more than 6,700 panchayats in the state. The government will also start the 'Madho Singh Haath Kharch Yojana', under which every tribal student will get Rs 5,000 per year, the chief minister said. Around 3 lakh students belonging to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category will benefit under the scheme and it will help in addressing the dropout of the tribal students, Majhi said. Majhi said that the Odisha government is committed to preparing the framework of the state's education system according to the National Education Policy 2020. The government is taking all necessary steps in this direction, he said. The

J'khand govt outreach programme generates 552K applications in 3 days

Over 5.52 lakh applications were generated in the first three days of the Jharkhand government's flagship outreach programme, an official said on Tuesday. Aimed at taking welfare schemes to the doorstep of people, the JMM-led government started the fourth leg of 'Aapki Yojana, Aapki Sarkar, Aapke Dwar' (your scheme, your government at your doorstep) on August 30. As of September 2, as many as 1,224 camps were organised across the state and a total of 5,52,836 applications were generated, according to an official statement. Of the total, 42,869 applications were disposed of, while 160 applications were rejected, it stated. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren posted on X, "Your scheme, your government at your doorstep is touching a new height every day." The programme will continue till September 15. Major demand for state government-sponsored housing scheme --Abua Awas Yojana--is evident in the camps. Altogether 2,93,657 applications were received for the scheme till Monday, wh

Co-op made in panchayats to realise 'sahkar se samriddhi' dream: Shah

A cooperative society is being formed in every panchayat in the country to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of 'sahkar se samriddhi' (prosperity through cooperatives), Union Minister Amit Shah said here on Sunday. Chairing a meeting in Nava Raipur on the expansion of the cooperative sector in Chhattisgarh, Shah, who holds the home and cooperation portfolios in the Modi cabinet, also said the state government must set up multi-feed ethanol production plants in its three cooperative sugar mills within the next six months. "A cooperative society is being formed in every panchayat of the country to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of 'Sahkar Se Samriddhi'," he said. "Chhattisgarh has four cooperative sugar mills, of which only one has an ethanol production unit. On the same lines, multi-feed ethanol production plants should be set up in the remaining three cooperative sugar mills within six months so that ethanol can be produced from maize and sugarcane," he ...

Women panchayat heads, 'lakhpati didis' to be special guests at I-Day event

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

Panchayat most watched Hindi web series in the first half of 2024

Chamkila most watched film; non-fiction shows witness surge on streaming platforms: Ormax

CPI(M) leader murdered in Tripura; statewide shutdown called on Sunday

CPI (M) leader Badal Shill who was critically injured in an attack in South Tripura's Rajnagar area died while undergoing treatment at a hospital on Saturday, police said. The opposition CPI(M) alleged that Shill, a zilla parishad candidate in the panchayat polls, was murdered by BJP-backed goons, and called a 12-hour statewide bandh on Sunday. SP of South Tripura Ashok Kumar Sinha told PTI that he was attacked by a group of people, who are yet to be identified, on Friday evening. "Police visited the spot immediately after coming to know about the incident. The victim was not in a condition to tell the police anything. However, we lodged a suo motu case. An investigation is underway," he said. Shill was attacked by a group of men with a 'dao' or machete, sticks and other weapons at Rajnagar market, his family alleged. AIG (Law and Order) Ananta Das said Shill died while undergoing treatment at the state-run GB Pant Hospital in Agartala. "His post-mortem examination has been compl

Decentralising development

Reforms must be initiated to strengthen local bodies

HP: Hamirpur's diarrhoea cases hit 286 with 34 new cases in 24 hours

Thirty-four new diarrhoea cases were reported from 10 villages of Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur in a span of 24 hours, taking the total number of patients in the district to 286, an official said on Friday. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr R K Agnihotri said the 34 cases were detected till Thursday night. Of the total 286 cases, 14 patients are in hospital while 193 have been discharged. The remaining patients are getting treated at home, he told PTI. Twelve villages of Gram Panchayats Lamblu, Chamned, Gasota, Bafrin and Pandher in Hamirpur district have been reporting diarrhoea cases since last Friday. The area has a population of around 4,550. A team of the health department visited the affected villages and advised people to take proper care, he added. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has sought details about the outbreak of the disease in the affected villages of the district. He also directed the health department to ensure that there was no shortage of medicines

Panchayat 3 cast salary revealed: Here's how much Jitendra Kumar was paid

The salary of the Panchayat Season 3 cast has been revealed. Jitendra Kumar is the highest-paid actor, followed by Neena Gupta. Check the complete list here

National Panchayati Raj Day 2024: History, importance, Wishes, Quotes

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

Govt will continue to strengthen Panchayati Raj institutions, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted people on the Panchayati Raj Day, asserting that his government will continue to work to strengthen local body institutions. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj observes April 24 as National Panchayati Raj Day, marking the enactment of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992, which came into force on this day in 1993 and paved the way for empowering of local bodies. Modi said on X, "On Panchayati Raj Day, greetings to all those working at grassroots to transform rural India and ensure a better quality of life for the people. Our Government will continue to work to strengthen Panchayati Raj institutions and give wings to people's dreams.

Devolution for development

Developed India needs local government-led human development to truly become an Inclusive India

Panchayat on Feb 17 to discuss 'atrocities' on farmers, says Rakesh Tikait

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday said a 'mahapanchayat' will be organised on Saturday at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh to discuss the "atrocities" being committed on the protesting farmers in the country. Farmers and activists of BKU from UP, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Haryana have been exhorted to attend the congregation to be held at the 'Kisan Bhawan' in Sisauli. "All farmers, office bearers and workers of Bharatiya Kisan Union are being informed that as per the decision of the national working committee, a monthly panchayat will be organised on February 17, 2024 at Kisan Bhawan, Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, in which the current situation of the country will be discussed. There will be a discussion regarding the atrocities being committed on farmers," Tikait posted on Facebook in Hindi. "Senior officials of Bharatiya Kisan Union of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Haryana will be present in this monthly panchayat," the BKU ...

Empowering panchayats

Local bodies need more predictable revenue flows

Panchayats should develop sources of revenue: Union minister Giriraj Singh

Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday said panchayats should not depend on MGNREGA funds and have their own sources of revenue. Addressing representatives from Panchayati Raj Institutions who came to Delhi to attend the Republic Day parade, the Union minister also emphasised the role of panchayats in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Panchayats should become self-reliant and develop revenue models, Singh said. "Panchayats should not depend on NREGA funds. If a petrol pump opens on panchayat land, the state collects VAT. Can the panchayat not get a share out of it? If a factory is built on a panchayat's land, it should earn tax from it," he said, suggesting revenue models. He underlined that panchayats can play a huge role in achieving the SDGs and said that they should look at 'Jan Bhagidari' (people's participation) for meeting these targets. "When we talk of a 'shiksha yukt panchayat', I am told that there is a shortage of teachers... There should be .