Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Shri Giriraj Singh urged the representatives of the Panchayats to take a pledge to make Panchayats developed, educated and empowered for achieving the sustainable development goals set by UNDP. The Minister was addressing the National Webinar on ‘Role of Panchayats in bringing Zero Hunger’. The webinar was organized by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as part of the celebration of AzadikaAmritMahotsav’.
Shri Giriraj Singh said that Panchayats first need to accept the challenges of hunger and then put their hard efforts to achieve the goal of ‘Zero Hunger’. He said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the fund allocations have been increased significantly for the empowerment of Panchayats.Various types of training programs are also being run by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to further strengthen the system.“It is now our duty to bring transparency in the Panchayati Raj System and make them AatmNirbhar.”, he said.
Appreciating the role of Self-Help Groups, Shri Singh asked Panchayat to involve the women of SHGs in the planning of implementation of various government schemes. He said that women are becoming the economic force of the country and can become the strength of the Panchayats too. The Minister also emphasized stopping rural to urban migration, for this, he urged Panchayats to take benefit of the Rurban mission of the Government of India.
Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil said that Panchayats can change the face of the village. He emphasized promoting youth to take up modern agriculture practices. It will help in a big way in eradicating poverty. He also urged other Ministries to collaborate with Panchayats for the successful implementation of their various schemes.
Union Minister for State Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste emphasized on the role of Self-Help Groups in empowering rural women and make them financially AatmNirbhar.
Addressing the inaugural session, Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati raj urged Panchayats to ensure that no one sleeps hungry in their territory. It is also the role of Panchayats to see that the public food distribution system would work in a proper way locally, he further added.
In a day-long webinar, senior officials of various Ministries and State governments, The representative of World Food Programme, UNDP, presented their views on critical issues/subjects like sufficiency of food production & food security, sustainable agricultural production, public distribution, minimization of food production and processing loss, nutritional security and leveraging of technological solutions having bearing on the attainment of Zero Hunger by 2030.
A large number of Panchayats of all three tiers also attended the Webinar.
