ITANAGAGAR, 16 Feb: A series of zonal-level workshop on the Panchayat Development Index (PDI), “with alignment of localisation of sustainable development goals,” was organised by the panchayati raj (PR) department and the State Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (SIRD&PR) at DK Convention Centre here from 5-16 February.
Addressing the participants, including DCs, ZPCs, DPOs, DSOs, PR member secretaries, ZPMs, GPCs, and other stakeholders on the inaugural day, Panchayati Raj Minister Bamang Felix said that “PDI is a scientific and data-driven exercises and entry point activities for analysing the real scenario of gram panchayats,” the PR directorate informed in a release.
“Difficulties of panchayat in Arunachal Pradesh are completely different from the other parts of the country. The geographical area is vast; however, the coverage of population is less. Rural connectivity is another hurdle for rural communities,” he said, adding that “appropriate devolution of fund, function and
functionaries are well taken in the form of SPICE (Sustainable, Participatory, Inclusive, comprehensive, Empowerment) model, which took place during 2022,” the release quoted the minister as saying.
“Chief Minister Pema Khandu has allocated the 10 percent of the state’s own revenue fund of Rs 123 crore for the 2022-’23 financial year (FY) and Rs 143.11 crore for the 2023-’24 FY, which is itself a major boost for strengthening the panchayati raj institutions,” Felix said, and appealed to every stakeholder to “complete the exercises PDI for quality LSDG-based gram panchayat development plan preparation for 2024-’25.”
PR Secretary Opak Gao said that “accurate data are essential for gap finding and strategy for the development in the village areas,” and added that “this PDI exercise will help improve the rural economy, and the deserving beneficiaries shall avail of the benefits of the government.”
Gao informed that “a state steering committee on PDI has been constituted, in which all commissioners and secretaries are the members.”
He suggested to the committee members to “draw a calendar of activities for the current year, review the activities, and share the departmental data, as these exercises will be beneficial for obtaining the award from the panchayati raj ministry.”
“I expect that the data collection and the data validation process should be completed by the end of February this year, so that gram panchayats shall be able to draw quality LSDG-based GPDP for the respective areas,” he said.
The workshops were coordinated by PR Director Tamune Miso, SIRD&PR Director Habung Lampung, PR Joint Director Likha Sampu, SIRD&PR Deputy Director Dr Narayan Sahoo, SOR nodal officer Obang Minki, and others.
Resource persons from the union panchayati raj ministry, Hyderabad (Telangana)-based National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Guwahati (Assam)-based National Fishery Development Board, Agartala-based Tripura University, Pune (Maharashtra)-based YASHADA, Guwahati-based National Research Institute on Pig, Itanagar-based GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, the Arunachal State Livelihoods Mission, the Arunachal Pradesh Industrial Development & Financial Corporation Limited, line department officers, and faculty members of the SIRD&PR conducted the workshops.
Participants from 25 districts attended the workshop, the release stated.
