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Gram Panchayat Development Plans for smart villages

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The current government is highlighting smart villages as one of its objectives. Smart villages are possible only through smart planning. Keeping this government of India under the Ministry of Panchayat Raj guiding villages to develop their own Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP: village plans) since 2015. India is having 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, almost all of them have developed their GPDPs in year 2015-16. Village plans are the documents of collective visioning with bottom up planning with specified development goals for integrated development of the village along with action plans. It is an instrument to prioritise and articulate the people’s vision of local communities and also instruments for confidence building. It is developed through participatory process by forming functional committees for different sectors like education, health and agriculture. The villagers prepare plans by drawing resource map (one per village) and social maps (for each habitat one), transact walks and discussion among themselves. Village plans are prepared by the people for the people and should be owned by the people.

Inclusive village plans

In making plans more inclusive, there is a need to ensure large representation of inaccessible communities, disabled people, old aged, minorities, extremely poor and SC/ST population in gram sabha. It requires wider publicity, fixing times like early in the morning or late evening so that everybody is able to attend the gram sabha. Follow a campaign approach on the lines of the literacy campaign, national immunisation campaign, etc. to mobilise the people.

Quality village plans

Since, GPDPs introduced in the planning process only since 2015 at pan-India level, still villagers are learning by doing. Quality data, information gathering and large scale social mobilisation are essential for better plans. Entire process should be in public domain with social audit. Training, capacity building and handholding are essential ingredients of better GPDPs.

Using local talent in preparation of village plans

Utilisation of local experts and resource persons in preparation of village plans is essential. Monitoring, guidance and facilitation  by state, district, panchayat resource persons, State Institute of Rural development (SIRD) faculty, members of SHGs, college students and teachers, Local opinion makers, NGOs, line departments, third party assessments and  community should be vital for increasing quality and relevance. However, they should not dominate process of development of plans; they can only act as experts to guide villagers to prepare their own plans. There is a need for mobile-experts who can guide a group of villages in a block and should have coordination committee to coordinate among different stakeholders.

Visioning and implementation

The plans needs to be first developed with a vision for five years, and then look for availability of funds from different sources including its own GP funds, State Finance Commission Grants, 14th Finance Commission Grants, MGNREGA funds and other line department funds. Fund availability from different programmes like MGNREGA, Rastriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana(RKVY), Pradhan  Mantri  Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), and National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) needs to be considered while planning.  Roles and responsibilities of various departments need to be specified to reduce conflicts.

Balanced and integrated development

There was an excessive importance of a few works like roads and sanitation with the neglect of other works relating to agriculture, women and child development, health and nutrition, education, animal husbandry and skill development.

Average expenses per Gram Panchayat in Telangana (average of 2013-14 and 2014-15)

 

Item Expenses

(thousands)

% to total
Drinking Water Supply 155 19.1
Roads 126 15.4
Establishment 106 13.0
Drainage 102 12.5
Sanitation 87 10.6
Street Lighting (electricity charges) 44 5.4
Street light (maintenance) 37 4.6
Water supply (electricity charges) 27 3.3
Maintenance of buildings 22 2.8
GP office Electricity charges 9 1.1
other expenses 101 12.4
Total 815 100

 

Accountability from bottom with gram panchayat as unit

Village plans are different from state and national plans. National and state level plans are developed and implemented on sectoral basis like agriculture and rural development budget allocations and implemented through separate sectoral departments. But village plans are comprehensive and based on the area approach by integrating all sectors. Works will be taken up based on priority and fund availability.

The villagers should be able to develop and assess the budgets, accounts and audits for effective prioritization, fund allocation and implementation of plans.

Meet local aspirations with clear goals from available funds

Plans should be realistic keeping the resource availability and local aspirations. Many works don’t need money for example supervision of schools by community, planting trees, cleaning the villages are with no cost or low cost works with local initiatives.  However some like creation of ponds, building construction, and horticultural development requires huge money.

Should have clear goals like basic amenities like complete sanitation, drinking water, literacy, immunisation, 100 per cent enrolment, reduction of IMR, no open defecation and no hunger, no poverty village, soak pits, which are directly linked to the global SDG goals and also give directions for the village livelihoods plan.

Legislative back up

Some states like Karnataka came up with Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act which is comprehensive and make it mandatory for GPS to prepare vision plans for 5 years, give more teeth the village plans. They also formed district planning committees with Janavasati sabhas, ward sabhas, gram sabhas, and federated in to district planning committees. The village plans should be consolidated at mandal level and district level to prepare mandal and district level plans.

Clear roles and responsibilities for elected representatives and officials

Roles of the elected representatives and resource persons need to be mutually complemented for development of better plans.

Use of modern technology in preparing plans

IT based plans including Geo-tagged, time stamped photographs of assets created to be undertaken wherever the states are ready like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Village plans should be backed by online administrative and technical approval systems and fund flow systems without much involvement of bureaucracy as per the plan.

Ultimately, the future of India lies in its villages as said by Mahatma Gandhi, starting point for smart villages are better village plans.

(The author is the Director of National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad. He can be contacted at anugu.amarender.reddy@gmail.com)

A Amarender Reddy

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