National Panchayat Awards 2020

HEADLINES:

Union Minister of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development Shri Narendra Singh Tomar distributes National Panchayat Awards 2020

WHY IN NEWS:

On National Panchayati Raj Day on 24th of April 2020, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had direct interaction with the panchayat representatives.

MINISTRY? :-Ministry of Panchayati Raj

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : PRI

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS you need to focus on different categories of Awards and the significance . Winners and looser are to be ignored here . Names as such cannot be asked .

For MAINS can you explain slow propagation and penetration of PRI ? The idea of decentralisation ?

CONTEXT:

Panchayat representatives should also come forward to work on subjects like education, health and nutrition so that every village in the country can move forward on the path of complete development.

BACKGROUND

Though the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been in existence for a long time.
It has been observed that these institutions have not been able to acquire the status and dignity of viable .

THERE ARE VARIOUS REASONS SUCH AS

Absence of regular elections
Prolonged super sessions

Insufficient representation of weaker sections like Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and women.

Inadequate devolution of powers and
Lack of financial resources.

PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS

The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24^th April, 1993 has vested constitutional status on Panchayati Raj institutions.

This date thus marks a defining moment in the history of decentralization of political power to the grassroots level.

The impact of the 73rd Amendment in rural India is very visible as it has changed power equations irreversibly.
The Government of India decided in consultation with the States to celebrate 24th April as National Panchayati Raj Day.

The commemoration is being anchored by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

The National Panchayati Raj Day (NPRD) is being celebrated on 24 April since 2010.
Ministry of Panchayati Raj commemorates the National Panchayati Raj Day on 24th April 2020.
During the National Panchayat Raj Day event, the following awards were given to the best performing Panchayats.

The Constitution of India recognizes Panchayats as ‘Institutions of self government‘.

THE THREE CATEGORIES OF NATIONAL PANCHAYAT AWARDS

Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India has incentivized the best performing Panchayats recommended by the State Governments since 2011-12 under Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Incentive Scheme (PEAIS).
The initiative has been continued under Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan.

RASHTRIYA PANCHAYAT AWARDS

PANDIT DEENDAYAL UPADHYAY PANCHAYAT SASHATIKARAN PURASKAR is awarded for the best panchayat services in following field:

Sanitation
Civic Services (drinking water, street light, infrastructure)
Natural Resource Management
Serving Marginalized Section (women, SC/ST, disabled, senior citizen)
Social Sector Performance
Disaster Management
CBOs/ Individuals taking voluntary actions to support Gram Panchayats
Innovation in revenue generation
e-Governance

E-PANCHAYAT PURASKAR : e-Panchayat Puraskar is given to States/UTs or promoting e-enablement of PRIs for bringing in efficiency, transparency and accountability in their functioning.

THEMATIC CATEGORIES

NANAJI DESHMUKH RASHTRIYA GAURAV GRAM SABHA PURASKAR (NDRGGSP) to Gram Panchayats for outstanding performance of Gram Sabha.
GRAM PANCHAYAT DEVELOPMENT PLAN (GPDP) Award is to be conferred upon three best performing Gram Panchayats across the country.
CHILD-FRIENDLY GRAM PANCHAYAT AWARD has been instituted during the year 2018-19 for best performing GPs/Village Councils (VCs) (one in each State/UT) for adopting child-friendly practices.

The elected representatives of the award-winning panchayats informed about the outstanding work done in their panchayats.

IASbhai WINDUP:

Minister also released the Gramoday Sankalp, a magazine of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

This magazine contains information about the excellent works of Panchayats, inspiring themes and success stories.
Villages are at the center of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, there is a great responsibility on Panchayats.

Sarpanches and elected representatives of Panchayats should perform their responsibility for the overall development of villages.

At the core of Self-Reliant India is a village and agro-based economy.

“The voice of the people may be said to be God’s voice, the voice of the Panchayat.” -Mahatma Gandhi

SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | National Panchayat Awards 2020

PADMA AWARDS

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