Gram panchayats, one of the grassroot centres that nurture political leadership and village development will get a makeover to more productive and successful bodies.
Infusing the change model will be the the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), which will lead the national initiative, launched in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi on Tuesday.
Panchayat clusters
The NIRDPR will try to create clusters of developed gram panchayats. It will be based on a scientifically-designed, professional plan to ensure sustainable development in these clusters through capacity building & participatory planning.
The Institute under the Ministry of Rural Development will implement the Action Research Project of Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).
Under the GPDP (100+ Panchayat Cluster Development Programme for Sustainable Development), NIRDPR has identified 426 gram panchayats (GPs) in 100 clusters from 115 aspirational-cum-Mission Antyodaya districts in 19 States.
The implementation phase will be through partnerships between the government, non-government, CSR, philanthropists, trusts and academic institutes/organisations.
MoUs inked
The institute aims to create a ‘school of practices’ and follow the hub-and-spoke model in reaching 50,000 Mission Antyodaya GPs over a period of five years, said WR Reddy, Director General.
The NIRDPR has signed MoUs with the Art of Living and the Foundation for Ecological Security to help panchayats in successful planning.
Another pact is with the VyaktiVikas Kendra India Trust for the Action Research Project, according to a statement from the Institute.
Objectives
The major objectives of the initiative are to map existing resources and institutions of gram panchayats for strengthening the capacity of functionaries through capacity building and handholding to ensure smooth orchestration between people, resource and institution; to develop income-generating and village welfare-related activities in and around the cluster of gram panchayats; to infuse technology for planning, monitoring, implementation and sustainable development; and improve the governance at the panchayat level.