Latest News | Panchayats Are Engines of Rural Growth: Secretary of Panchayati Raj Ministry
Get latest articles and stories on Latest News at LatestLY. Panchayats are "engines" of rural transformation, Secretary of Panchayati Raj Ministry Vivek Bharadwaj said on Wednesday.
New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI) Panchayats are "engines" of rural transformation, Secretary of Panchayati Raj Ministry Vivek Bharadwaj said on Wednesday.
Bharadwaj also lauded the contributions of over 30 lakh elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in transforming rural India.
He was speaking after inaugurating, along with Secretary of Department of Rural Development Shailesh Kumar Singh, a national colloquium on 'Governance at the Grassroots after Three Decades of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment'.
In his address, Bharadwaj emphasized India's unique opportunity to showcase grassroots digital governance for citizen empowerment and sustainable development goal attainment, an official statement said.
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He envisioned panchayats as "engines" of rural transformation and lauded the contributions of over 30 lakh elected representatives of PRIs in transforming rural India, citing increased transparency in functioning of panchayats and empowerment of rural citizens.
"This is the time for reflection, resolve and reaffirmation to strengthen the Panchayati Raj system. The large number of elected women representatives in PRIs has paved the way for women-led development across rural India," he said.
Bharadwaj underlined the ministry's commitment to creating strong, capable, and self-reliant panchayats, leveraging the experiences of three decades.
He stressed the importance of adequate and competent manpower at the panchayat level, along with a self-driven approach to augment Own Source of Revenue (OSR).
Speaking on the occasion, Rural Development Ministry Secretary Singh highlighted the convergence of development interventions and digital initiatives at the panchayat level to strengthen local self-governance, the statement said.
"Panchayats have a very visible and vibrant space in the governance spectrum catering to rural areas, and the journey traversed has been very eventful and fruitful," said Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary, Panchayati Raj Ministry.
Key stakeholders including officials from Central and state governments, experts, academics, UN/multilateral organizations, and civil society organizations also attended the event to deliberate on leveraging digital technologies for rural governance transformation.
Discussions centred on assessing the impact of PRIs and converging digital/ e-governance initiative, the statement added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)