Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on address various Gram Panchayats across the country on Friday via video conference on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day.
The Prime Minister will also launch the unified e-GramSwaraj portal and mobile app on the occasion.
The Unified Portal is a new initiative of Ministry of Panchayati Raj which will provide the Gram Panchayats with a single interface to prepare and implement their Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), the ministry said in a press release.
Modi will also launch the Swamitva Scheme on the occasion which provides for an integrated property validation solution for rural India. The demarcation of inhabited land in rural areas would be done by the use of latest surveying methods including drone technology with the collaborated efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Department, State Revenue Department and Survey of India.
Every year, on this occasion, Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been awarding the best performing Panchayats/States/UTs across the country under the incentivization of panchayats in recognition of their good work for improving the delivery of services and public goods. This year three such awards - Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP), Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award (CFGPA) and Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) Award - have been finalised which will be shared with the concerned states and UTs, the ministry said.
National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on April 24 every year to mark the institutionalisation of Panchayati Raj, through the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 which came into force in 1993 on this date.
Every year, the National Panchayati Raj Day is commemorated as a grand event on a big scale and is being generally held outside Delhi with the Prime Minister making an appearance at the occasion. This year, the national event was to be held in Uttar Pradesh' Jhansi and Modi was to inaugurate the national event and address all the Gram Sabhas and Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country.
But due to the nationwide lockdown over COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the government has decided to commemorate the National Panchayati Raj Day digitally.