NEW DELHI: Union Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, today said Panchayats should take a proactive role in addressing poverty, social issues and needs of vulnerable groups.
He said the Panchayats have been performing well under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and underlined the importance of quality of training and use of technology by Panchayats.
The Minister suggested that National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and State Institutes of Rural Development should coordinate with other institutes for imparting quality training to the elected representatives and functionaries of Panchayats.
He was speaking at the conference of State Panchayati Raj Ministers at Bhopal, Ministry of Panchayati Raj said in a statement.
Mr Tomar highlighted that in the context of huge fiscal transfer to Gram Panchayats of about Rs 2,00,292-crore in five years, by the way of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) award, recent years have seen a significant increase in public expenditure through Panchayats in the areas of sanitation and civic amenities.
Through the local leadership of the Gram Panchayats, many villages have been able to successfully resolve difficult problems like availability of water, connectivity, open defecation, education for all and have brought about transformational changes in the lives of poor persons belonging to vulnerable groups.
He also thanked State Ministers of Panchayati Raj for participating in the conference and assured that all their suggestions would be duly considered.
On the occasion, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan highlighted the progress made by the State and thanked Mr Tomar for organising the conference at Bhopal.
The MP CM also pointed out that decisions taken through Panchayats were always fruitful and informed that he himself took decisions regarding various schemes by holding Panchayats with stakeholders concerned.
Panchayati Raj Ministers of ten states made presentations and shared their experiences and gave suggestions for future development of Panchayati Raj Systems.
In the conference, more than 40 Sarpanches of Panchayats from different parts of country were felicitated in appreciation of their outstanding performance.
During the conference, three panel discussions, one each on Water Conservation, Smart Villages for New India and Role of Panchayats in achieving Sustainable Development Goals were organised.
Many recommendations emerged from these deliberations.
Further, two books published by Ministry of Panchayati Raj with the support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) were released.
A set of 20 books published under collaborative projects of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, UNICEF and Tata Institute of Social Sciences was also released on the occasion. (AGENCIES)
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