Port Blair, Dec 2: A day long training programme for newly elected representatives of three tiers of PRIs, organized by the Directorate of RD, PRIs & ULBs in coordination with the NIRD Hyderabad, was held in the conference hall of Megapode Nest here today.
Addressing the gathering of the newly elected representatives and functionaries, of PRIs of South Andaman area, through tele-voice mode from Puducherry, the Lt. Governor A&N Islands, Lt. General AK Singh (Retd) hailed the PRI system in the democratic system of the country as the elected members and the representatives of PRIs are directly connected to people. He also thanked the faculty of National Institute of Rural Development, (NIRD) for conducting this very important training here.
The Lt. Governor further reiterated the commitment of the A&N Administration towards strengthening further the vibrant Panchayati Raj System in the Islands so that the expectations of the masses are fulfilled. The Lt. Governor also exhorted the PRI members to understand their duties and responsibilities as well as the need of the people of their respective constituencies, so as to serve them in a better way. He also stressed that transparency and integrity should always be maintained and urged the PRIs members to stay connected with the people of their area. “Priorities in plans should be informed to the people and plans should be prepared in a realistic, pragmatic and unbiased manner, keeping in view the resources available”, said the Lt. Governor. He also asked the elected members and representatives of PRIs to follow the laid down rules and regulations and take prior sanctions from the authorities in case of any deviation in the plans.
“The Central Govt. as well as the A&N Administration is determined to strengthen the PRI System in A&N Islands”, the Lt Governor said and asked them to work towards revenue generation to become self reliant. “The support of the UT Administration and the self-sufficiency of the PRI system should become a winning formula here”, the Lt. Governor opined.
Reminding the PRI members of their social responsibility, the Lt. Governor asked them to also work towards tackling social issues viz. suicide, alcoholism and gender issues in the islands. “As PRI play vital role at all the three levels, they should shoulder their responsibilities to weed out these menace from the society”, he said.
The Lt. Governor expressed confidence that the coordinated efforts by the Administration and the PRI members will take the A&N Islands forward towards success and greater development in the coming days.
The Lt. Governor also informed that the ‘Sarkaar Apke Dwar’ programme was devised to take the governance at the door stop of the masses. These Islands have witnessed a discernible growth in the last 1½ half year under the dynamic leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, said the Lt Governor.
In his address, the Member of Parliament, Shri Bishnu Pada Ray enlightened them about the 4th Finance Commission meeting scheduled to be held on Dec. 9 at Vigyan Bhawan New Delhi. He also urged the PRI members to highlight their demands, needs and requirements and issues related to PRIs and Municipal Council in writing which can be presented before the Commission. He also urged the PRIs to make use of the training programme and acquire knowledge.
Earlier, welcoming the gathering, the Secretary (Home/Civil Aviation/RD & PRIs), A&N Administration, Shri N. K. Sharma highlighted about the objective of the training programme which aims at strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions of A&N Islands. He urged the newly elected PRIs to identify and prioritize their priorities and utilize the funds allocated for the benefit of the masses. He touched upon the ill effect of open defecation system which needs to be done away with and urged the PRI members to spread awareness about the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Scheme among people. He also reminded the PRIs of their roles and responsibilities towards their respective constituencies.
During the training, the resource persons from NIRD, Hyderabad discussed about various issues and topics. The training was divided into three sessions. In the first session, Dr. Suryanarayana Reddy, Consultant, CPR, Hyderabad explained about preparation of plan at grass root level, implementation of rural development programmes, three major institutional structures with reference to local government, capacity building & leadership quality, role of State Election Commission, State Finance Commission, District Planning Commission, Gram Sabha, SAGY initiatives & methodology and situation analysis of Gram Panchayat. He also stressed on the need for own resource generation by PRIs.
In the second session, Shri T. Phanindra Kumar, Assistant Professor, NIRD highlighted about uses of Geographic Information System (GIS) for Gram Panchayats. He said that the Central Government stressed on the need to empower the grass root level governance with technology. He also explained about the importance of GIS in Gram Panchayat viz. planning, analyzing both demographic and cadastral information, spatial & satellite data updates and Community based Disaster management through GIS.
In the third session, Dr. Ajit Kumar, Associate Professor, CPR, Hyderabad dwelt at length about the importance of strengthening PRIs System, schemes for village development, importance of horizontal & vertical dialogue between the three tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions and line departments for effective result, Social audit mechanism which is based on fund, function & functionaries, importance of Gram Sabha meetings and RTI.
Videos related to effectiveness of RTI, strengthening of PRI members their role & responsibilities were also screened for the participants. This was followed by an interactive session with the PRI members in which questions pertaining to rural development schemes were discussed elaborately.
The training programme was attended by a large number of PRIs members from Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zilla Parishad and also attended by the BDOs and Panchayat Secretaries.
The training programme was finally concluded by the Secretary (Home/ Civil Aviation/RD&PRIs) Shri N.K.Sharma appreciating the training having been efficiently imparted by the faculty members from the NIRD, Hyderabad and the active participation and interest taken by all the PRIs and the govt. functionaries.
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