News: The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has launched the first-ever Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) Baseline Report for the fiscal year 2022–23. Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI).
About Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI)
- PAI is a Multi-domain and multi-sectoral index that is intended to be used to assess the overall holistic development, performance & progress of panchayats
- It will measure how well these grassroots institutions are achieving localized Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Objective: To identify developmental gaps in rural local bodies and facilitate evidence-based policymaking.
- Themes and Indicators: The PAI is based on 435 unique local indicators spread across nine thematic areas.
- These themes include: Rate of poverty, Availability of livelihoods, Health indices, Whether the panchayat is child-friendly, Water sufficiency, Clean and green environment, Self-sufficient infrastructure, Social justice and social security and Good governance and women-friendliness.
- Performance Categories: Based on the evaluation, gram panchayats are categorized into five performance bands:
- Achiever: Those scoring 90 and above (No gram panchayat has reached this category yet).
- Front Runner: Those scoring between 75 and below 90.
- Performer: Those scoring between 60 and below 75.
- Aspirant: Those scoring between 40 and below 60.
- Beginner: Those scoring below 40.
