Guwahati, 28 September (HS): NITI Aayog’s Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RD&PR) Division, in collaboration with the Golap Borbora State Institute of Panchayat & Rural Development (GBSIPRD), Assam, organised a national workshop on “Viksit Panchayat: Connecting People, Places, Resources and Opportunities” in Guwahati on Monday.

The workshop was inaugurated by Assam Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Atul Bora and NITI Aayog Member (RD&PR) Dr R Balasubramaniam in the presence of Assam Chief Secretary Ravi Kota, NITI Aayog Programme Director Dr Neelam Patel, Ministry of Panchayati Raj Director Dharmendra Kumar and other dignitaries. Rural Development Secretary Rohit Kansal and Assam Additional Chief Secretary B Kalyan Chakraborty joined the programme virtually.

Bora stressed the need to develop panchayats as self-reliant and sustainable institutions by 2047. He highlighted the state government's efforts to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions and appreciated NITI Aayog’s initiative to bring policymakers, experts, think tanks and PRI representatives together in Assam.

Balasubramaniam called for a shift from sectoral planning to spatial planning and emphasised strengthening local self-governance, identifying gaps in local planning and promoting convergence among panchayats through technology. He also stressed the need to move from sustainable development towards regenerative development.

Chief Secretary Ravi Kota highlighted the importance of the next two decades in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047. He emphasised institutionalising the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) to enable integrated and decentralised planning at the grassroots level.

Rohit Kansal highlighted new initiatives under VBGRAM-G aimed at creating employment, improving connectivity, ensuring access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and developing climate-resilient villages. He urged stakeholders to participate in the Reform Utsav beginning October 2 and encourage greater participation in Gram Sabhas.

The workshop featured four thematic sessions covering constitutional provisions for decentralised and spatial planning, capacity development for grassroots planning, identification of priority sectors through spatial planning and integration of spatial planning into the GPDP process.

The discussions also focused on developing a working framework for spatial planning at the Panchayat level, integrating geospatial tools and data into GPDPs, documenting state-level innovations and formulating actionable policy recommendations for operationalising the vision of Viksit Panchayat.

GBSIPRD Director Ananta Kumar Gogoi, in his valedictory address, thanked NITI Aayog and the Assam Panchayat and Rural Development Department for organising the workshop and expressed the institute’s willingness to conduct more such programmes in collaboration with NITI Aayog.------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash