Tirupati, Feb 28 (Agency) Former Chairman of the Zilla Praja Parishad, Kurnool M. Rajasekhar said Gram Panchayat Development Programme (GPDP) formulation is an ample scope and opportunity for bringing the development issues and problems of the Villages to the attention of the policy makers at the helm of affairs. Addressing at the Regional Webinar Meeting on ‘Gram Panchayat Development Programme in Andhra Pradesh: Status and Implementation’, organised by the Academy of Grassroots Studies and Research of India (AGRASRI), through Zoom Platform here on Sunday, Rajasekhar said the Kerala State Government has provided a congenial administrative structure to the Gram Panchayats with involvement and functioning of 21 Departments under the control and supervision of GPs and 40 percent of the State Budget resources allocated to the Local Self Government Institutions in achieving the targeted goals and aims in public service mechanism. For better and applicable GPDP formulation and execution, he demanded that the devolution of Functions, Functionaries and Funds in 29 subjects to the Panchayati Raj Institutions by the Government of Andhra Pradesh is alone yielding the better results for good governance in villages and see that active participation of the people in Grama Sabha meetings in selection of the stakeholders in a transparent manner.
Speaking on the occasion, Chittoor District Panchayat Officer (DPO) Dasaradha Rami Reddy , said the Andhra Pradesh Sachivalaya System is one of the best role model administrative reforms in India for providing abundant public services to the people at their doorsteps. Explaining the key role of PRIs in sustainable development, he said that today in every Gram Panchayat of Andhra Pradesh, the Sanitation, Drinking Water, Street Lights, Roads, Health Services and other civic and public services delivering to each and every citizen irrespective of caste, creed and religion in an effective manner through Sachivalaya system. He appreciated the efforts of AGRASRI for rendering its research and training services in PRIs over a period of two decades in delivering good governance at the grassroots. Professor of Political Science at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) E.Venkatesu, regretted that though the 73 Constitutional Amend Act empowered the PRIs as Constitutional bodies through 29 subjects, majority of the State Governments have not yet devolved the Functions, Functionaries and Funds to the PRI’s, except a few states like Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh.
Dr. D. Sundar Ram, Moderator of the Webinar Meeting and Director of AGRASRI said the People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) movement of Kerala in 1996 and the recommendations of the Grassroots Level Planning Committee under the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj headed by the Kerala Former Chief Secretary V.K. Ramachandran is the driving force to the Gram Panchayat Development Plan process in India. At the end of the Webinar Meeting, Several recommendations emerged for an effective formulation and execution of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) including to conduct the Grama Sabha Meetings with majority of the people of the concerned Gram Panchayat in a transparent manner for expressing their views and opinions on the development issues on non-political nature for the formulation of GPDP and to conduct the elections to the Gram Panchayats in a stipulated period as per the State Election Commission regulations by the respective State Governments.