New Delhi: Around 3,000 Panchayat representatives from states will participate in Panchayati Raj Sammelan to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jharkhand on Sunday, which will be beamed live to all the Gram Sabhas across the country.
Modi will address the Panchayati Raj Sammelan on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24 in Jamshedpur during which he will also give away awards to states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Sikkim, which have have devolved maximum powers to Panchayats so far.
Apart from the Cumulative Devolution Index awards, the Prime Minister will give Incremental Devolution Index awards to those states that have devolved maximum powers to Panchayats in the last three years. They include Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha.
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, will get awards for having made the maximum progress in aligning their laws to Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act 1996. This award is being given for the first time.
States that have made maximum efforts to e-enable Panchayats like Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam will get a separate award.
In addition, a new Mandate of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj will be released along with the Devolution Index Report by the Prime Minister on this occasion.
Celebrating the National Panchayati Raj Day, Gram Sabha meetings are being held between April 21 and April 24th across the country barring the six poll poll-bound states of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The conference of Panchayat Representatives will have around 3000 Panchayati Raj representatives from across the country, an official statement said.
The gathering will also be addressed by Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Panchayati Raj and Jharkhadn Chief Minister Raghuvar Das.
PTI