{"id":139907,"date":"2021-10-08T19:54:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T14:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=139907"},"modified":"2021-10-16T16:49:55","modified_gmt":"2021-10-16T11:19:55","slug":"stronger-at-the-grassroots-on-strengthening-panchayati-raj-institutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/stronger-at-the-grassroots-on-strengthening-panchayati-raj-institutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Stronger at the grassroots: On strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Synopsis<\/strong>: About PRIs, role played by them in COVID-19 crisis, need to build their capacity further so that they can deal with these kinds of situations in stronger way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

The Panchayati Raj\u00a0was\u00a0first adopted by\u00a0Nagaur\u00a0in Rajasthan on October 2,\u00a01959.\u00a0It has\u00a0expanded vastly. There are\u00a0now 2,60,512 Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) represented by about 31\u00a0lakh elected members across India.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u00a0are\u00a0PRIs?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

This is a system of local self-governance, where people in the villages participate in the decision-making process. It is the backbone of democracy. They also provide a platform to build consensus and making resolutions in the community’s interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0People\u2019s Plan Campaign and Vibrant\u00a0Gram Sabha Dashboard,<\/span><\/b> rolled out\u00a0this year, aspire to strengthen the\u00a0Panchayati Raj system by making\u00a0gram\u00a0sabhas\u00a0more vibrant.<\/p>\n

How PRI played a key role in tackling COVID-19 crisis?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Unlike other disasters like earthquakes, COVID-19 is an unusual crisis as it is long-drawn and affects people everywhere. <\/span><\/p>\n

When the traditional top-down disaster response system was compromised during the bad months of the pandemic, it was PRIs that played a remarkable role.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Helped\u00a0reduce risks<\/span><\/b>–\u00a0responded swiftly and thus\u00a0helped people recover quickly.\u00a0They provided essential leadership at the local level.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Performed both\u00a0regulatory and welfare functions<\/span><\/b>– For\u00a0instance, during the nationwide lockdown, PRIs set up containment\u00a0zones, arranged transport,\u00a0identified\u00a0buildings for quarantining people\u00a0and provisioned food for the incoming migrants.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Effective implementation of welfare schemes like\u00a0MGNREGA and the National Rural Livelihood Mission<\/span><\/b> \u2013 This quickened the pace of recovery while ensuring support to the vulnerable population. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bridged the trust gap between the community and the officials<\/span><\/b>– They did it with regular engagement with frontline workers like ASHA workers and Anganwadi workers through committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organised\u00a0community-based surveillance systems<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u2013 It\u00a0involved\u00a0village elders, the youth and self-help groups\u00a0(SHGs). The purpose was to\u00a0keep a strict vigil in quarantine\u00a0centres\u00a0and monitor symptoms\u00a0in households.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mobilised citizens <\/span><\/b>for COVID-19 vaccination.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

How we can further build\u00a0the\u00a0capacity\u00a0of PRIs?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

The Yokohama strategy\u00a0pointed out\u00a0that it is important to focus on\u00a0disaster prevention, mitigation<\/strong> and\u00a0preparedness<\/strong> rather than disaster response alone, to reduce vulnerability. In this light, certain initiatives can be taken to build the capacity of PRIs:<\/span><\/p>\n

– I<\/span><\/b>nclude disaster management chapters in Panchayat Raj Acts\u00a0<\/strong>and make disaster planning and spending part of Panchayati Raj development plans and local-level committees. <\/span>This will ensure citizen-centric mapping and planning of resources. Various insurance\u00a0products\u00a0customised\u00a0to local needs will build financial\u00a0resilience of the community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

– C<\/span><\/b>onducting regular location specific training programmes<\/strong> for the community and organising platforms for sharing best practices.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>This will\u00a0strengthen individual and institutional capacities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

– A<\/span><\/b>ssigning roles to individual members<\/strong> and providing them with the necessary skills. <\/span>It\u00a0can make such\u00a0programmes\u00a0more meaningful.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

– C<\/span><\/b>ommunity-based disaster management plans<\/strong> are needed as the community is usually the first responder in case of a disaster. We also need to take the traditional wisdom of local communities which will complement modern practices.<\/span> Moreover, f<\/span>inancial\u00a0contributions from the community should be encouraged through\u00a0the establishment of community disaster funds in all gram panchayats. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00a0is\u00a0the high time\u00a0to make disaster resilience an inherent part of the community culture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: This post is based on the article “Stronger at the grassroots<\/strong>” published in The Hindu<\/strong> on 8th October 2021<\/strong>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Synopsis: About PRIs, role played by them in COVID-19 crisis, need to build their capacity further so that they can deal with these kinds of situations in stronger way. Introduction\u00a0 The Panchayati Raj\u00a0was\u00a0first adopted by\u00a0Nagaur\u00a0in Rajasthan on October 2,\u00a01959.\u00a0It has\u00a0expanded vastly. There are\u00a0now 2,60,512 Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) represented by about 31\u00a0lakh elected members across… Continue reading Stronger at the grassroots: On strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[8712,212,10237,10236],"class_list":["post-139907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-devolution-of-powers-and-finances-up-to-local-levels","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-local-self-government","tag-panchayati-raj-institutions","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}