National Panchayati Raj Day

National Panchayati Raj Day

The Constitution of India recognizes Panchayats as 'Institutions of self government'. There are 2.51 lakh Panchayats in our country, which include 2.39 lakh Gram Panchayats, 6904 Block Panchayats and 589 District Panchayats. There are more than 29 lakh Panchayat representatives. Under the 15^th Finance Commission for the period 2021-26, Rs. 2,36,805 Crore has been recommended for rural local bodies (RLBs)/ panchayats. 

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 and responsive people's bodies due to a number of reasons including 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.

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.

Accordingly, 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.

National Panchayati Raj Day 2022

In view of the celebrations of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, this year's celebrationof NPRD is very special.

Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), Government of India has been incentivizing the best performing Panchayats recommended by the State Governments/UT Administrations since 2011-12. During the National Panchayat Raj Day event, the following awards are being given to the best performing Panchayats.

• Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar (DDUPSP) - is given to best performing Panchayats (District, Intermediate and Gram Panchayat) across the States/UTs in recognition of the good work that is done by PRIs at each level for improving delivery of services and public goods. 
  Nine thematic categories for GPs are Sanitation, Civic Services (Drinking Water, Street Light, infrastructure), Natural Resource Management, Marginalized section (Women, SC/ST, Disabled, Senior Citizen), Social Sector performance, Disaster Management, Community Based Organizations/Individuals taking voluntary actions to support GPs, Innovation in Revenue Generation and e-Governance.
• Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP) is given to Gram Panchayats/Village Councils for their outstanding contribution to the socio-economic development by involving Gram Sabhas. 
• Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) Award: is given to Gram Panchayat/ Village Council which has developed its GPDP according to the State/UT specific guidelines prepared in line with the model guidelines issued by MoPR. 
• Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award is given to best performing Gram Panchayat/Village Council for adopting child-friendly practices. 

To know more about the National Panchayat Awards, click here.

Source : Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Related resources

1. List of Panchayats selected for 2022 awards