National Panchayat Awards

Why in news?

• The Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj celebrating National Panchayat Awards Week from 17th – 21st April 2023 as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) 2.0 in the run-up to the National Panchayati Raj Day (24th April 2023).

About National Panchayat Awards: 

• The award was given to the best-performing Panchayats by assessing their performance in the attainment of SDGs.
• These annual awards were first instituted in 2011.
  • The Awardee Panchayats under various categories of National Panchayat Awards–2023 namely,
  • Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (DDUPSVP) for the performance under individual LSDG themes,
  • Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (NDSPSVP) for the aggregate performance under all 9 LSDG themes and green initiative-related Special Categories.
  • Gram Urja Swaraj Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar.
  • Carbon Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar.
• During the event Union Minister of Rural Development launched the GS NIRNAY, National Initiative for Rural India to Navigate, InnovAte and Resolve PanchaYat decisions, a mobile application.
• It provides easy access to critical information discussed during a Gram Sabha.
• This would bring in more transparency and increase efficiency in the functioning of Panchayats, which play a vital role in decentralized participatory democracy.

 

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Q1) What is a Gram Sabha?

It  is a term used to refer to a village assembly, which is a basic unit of local government and administration in rural areas. It is a democratic institution that provides a platform for the villagers to come together, discuss, and make decisions on various issues that affect their community.

Source: President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu presents the National Panchayat Awards and inaugurates the National Conference on Incentivization of Panchayats