Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu Confers National Panchayat Awards:Odisha win seven Awards

Newdxelhi:11/12/24:The Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu graced the National Panchayat Awards Conferment Ceremony 2024, organized by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, held today at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. During the ceremony, the Hon’ble President conferred National Panchayat Awards upon 45 awardees (42 Panchayats and 3 Capacity Building Institutes) outstanding Panchayats selected across various categories for their exceptional contributions to sustainable and inclusive development. This historic event witnessed the presence of Union Minister Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (FAH&D), Minister of State Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of FAH&D, Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, along with other dignitaries, senior officials and more than 1200 Panchayat representatives from across the country.

Speaking on the occasion, the Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu said that about 64 percent of the population of our country lives in villages. Therefore, the development and empowerment of villages and villagers is important to make India a developed nation. She was happy to note that in the past decade the government has made serious efforts for the empowerment of panchayats, which aims to achieve concrete results. The Hon’ble President said that the foundation of a developed India could be laid only based on self-reliant and capable local bodies. Panchayats should try to become self-reliant by developing their sources of revenue. This self-reliance will provide self-confidence to the Gram Sabhas and strength to the country. The President said that Panchayati Raj institutions are empowering women politically.

On this historic occasion, Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said that the government is working to empower Panchayats as pillars of rural development by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision wherein strong panchayats are serving as the foundation for becoming “Aatmanirbhar”. Digital transfer of award money to the winning Panchayats of an amount of Rs. 46 crores was executed during the ceremony by the Union Minister.

Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel commended the Panchayati Raj system for its evolution into a robust mechanism for inclusive and participatory governance. He highlighted its critical role in achieving the rime Minister’s vision of a developed India by 2047 and the global SDG targets by 2030

This year’s National Panchayat Awards included categories such as the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar, Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar, Gram Urja Swaraj Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar, Carbon Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar, and Panchayat Kshamta Nirmaan Sarvottam Sansthan Puraskar, honoring panchayats excelling in thematic areas like poverty alleviation, health, child welfare, water conservation, sanitation, infrastructure, governance, waste management and women’s empowerment.