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Background Major Schemes and Initiatives

Mahatma Gandhi envisioned villages as "little republics" and This section outlines the current schemes and initiatives that are
urged that true democracy should begin with the participation of being carried out by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj with PRIs
people from the grassroots level in every village. He believed in order to achieve the sustainable development goals and
that this was the only way to establish a democratic foundation. ensuring convergence with other programmes and interventions
rd
The 73 Amendment to the Constitution of India allows for the being carried out by other Ministries and Departments in the
engagement of neighbourhood residents in the development of direction of holistic development. The activity that is carried out
rural areas by means of the Panchayati Raj system. To enable by the MoPR can be divided into two distinct categories:
actualisation of the spirit of the 73rd Amendment, the Ministry schemes and e-governance projects.
of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) was established in May, 2004, with Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)
the objective of making Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) an
effective, efficient, and transparent vehicle for local self-
governance, development, social change, and public service
delivery mechanism for meeting the aspirations of local
population. This goal continues to be pursued and advocated by
the MoPR.

The following is a list of the three primary pillars that make up
the Ministry's strategy for bolstering PRIs:
i. The provision of essential services by means of funds
from the Finance Commission, and access to the
resource envelope at GP level, and use of technology
In 2018, the RGSA scheme was initiated in order to contribute
for better GP functioning;
to the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals
ii. Strengthening of RLBs' Capabilities through the (SDGs) and improve the skills of Panchayati Raj Institutions
implementation of scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj (PRIs). Further, Mission Antyodaya provided the GPs, with
Abhiyan (RGSA); and information that would enable them to prepare plans on areas

iii. Convergent comprehensive planning through an listed in the Mission Antyodaya survey. In 2022, the RGSA
inclusive and participatory process with the Gram scheme was revised based on multiple inputs including from the
Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) and advocacy Capacity Building Commission (CBC), the Expert Group on
Localisation of SDGs with PRIs, and the Committee to revisit
works.
the Implementation Framework of Revamped RGSA. The new
This brief provides an overview of the current schemes and
guidelines brought in the 9 Thematic framework of the LSDGs,
interventions undertaken by MoPR to strengthen Panchayati Raj
and towards achieving it looks with a focus on immersive
Institutions in India. It also raises questions on how to
capacity building activities and leveraging the use of emerging
restructure and converge the existing policies and interventions
technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality
and move towards a holistic approach for a rapid transformation
(VR), and others to ensure and facilitate self-learning and
at the grassroots and contribute towards India's commitment to
certification of elected representatives, functionaries, and other
achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and
stakeholders at the panchayat level. This was done in order to
how the PDI becomes a valuable tool in this process.
ensure the self-learning and certification of elected
representatives, functionaries, and other stakeholders at the

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PDI Committee Report - 2023: Policy Efforts by MoPR to strengthen PRIs 10