State Government has been asked to prepare District and Block Level Development Plans for inclusive development at grass root level.
Ministry of Panchayati Raj(MoPR) has written to the Odisha Government along with other States to go for decentralized planning.
Accordingly MoPR has provided the Framework for preparation of Block and District Level Plans.
The framework is a step-by-step guide for Panchayat Samitis and Zilla Parishad to prepare Block and District Plans and will assist planners, concerned stakeholders at appropriate level.
MoPR has pointed out that the framework will definitely promote inclusive development at the block and district levels by focusing on locally available resources, local people’s aspirations and priority areas.
The framework will serve as an important tool for all resource persons, stakeholders associated with decentralized planning in intermediate / block and district panchayats and will play an important role in transforming rural India by providing accelerated, participatory and inclusive growth.
In the meantime, Minister Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar has unveiled the framework in a webinar, in which Principal Secretary, Panchayati Raj, Director Panchayati Raj and Director of SIRD participated in the videoconference.
The 73rd amendment to the Constitution of India formalized the three-tier Panchayati Raj system, Gram Panchayat at Panchayat Level, Panchayat Samiti at Block level and Zilla Parishad at district level.
The grants of the 15th Finance Commission are also being distributed to Rural Local Bodies from 2020-21.Odisha has received Rs.2258 Crore of Grant for its Rural Local Bodies(Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad) for 2020-21.While Rs.1129 Crore is Basic Grant Rs.1129 is Tied Grant.
While Government of India has distributed a total of Rs 60750 crore to the all the Rural Local Bodies in the country in the year 2020-21, Odisha received Rs.2258 Crore.
Out of which Rs 45774.20 crore is for Gram Panchayats, Rs 8750.95 crore for Panchayat Samitis and Rs 6224.85 crore for Zilla Parishads.MoPR has said that these institutions need to be assisted to in formulation of comprehensive Block Development and District Development Plans for rural areas.
Keeping this in mind, a detailed framework for planning process has been prepared by a committee constituted by the MoPR headed by Dr. Bala Prasad Former Special Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
While preparing this framework, the committee discussed various aspects of the scheme at the upper levels of the Panchayats and interacted extensively with the stakeholders involved in the process.
Detailed analysis of the process of preparation of plans, role of state governments and other agencies, convergence at various levels and scope of collective action will not only help in understanding between the agencies involved, but also the conditions of human planning enabling the lives of the people concerned also to improve.