Institutions in Indiaare the backbone of our democracy.To promote a decentralized, participative & holistic planning process for the local elected bodies and make then more meaningful a number of initiatives have taken by the Ministry of .

This promotes decentralized, participative & holistic planning process, as an essential condition for getting BRGF grant. It bridges the critical gaps in development and builds capacity of & official functionaries. The evaluation study done recently shows that BRGF is extremely useful in meeting the local needs and and States have acquired good experience in planning and implementing the Scheme. Out of the plan outlay of Rs.4670 Cr. for 2009-10 for BRGF, . 3240 Cr has already been released to States by 31 December 2009.

is identified as one of the Mission Mode Projects () under . It proposes to provide a whole range of IT related services such as Decentralized Database & Planning, PRI Budgeting & Accounting, Implementation & monitoring of Central and State sector schemes, Citizen-centric Services, Unique codes to and Individuals, Essential GIS based applications, On-line Self-learning medium for elected representatives and official functionaries. has the potential to revolutionize as the symbol ofmodernity & efficiency and induce mass ICT culture.

at a tentative cost of . 4500 cr. over 3 years. being the basic unit for planning and implementation of /States & schemes, e-PRI would, in a way, be the umbrella MMP. Government would, therefore, give high priority to e-PRI under .Information and Service Needs Assessment, Business Process Engineering and Detailed Budget Reports for 27 States has already been done and the Project is ready for roll out.

Reservation for Women

as women suffer multiple deprivations of class, caste and gender and enhancing reservation in will lead to more women entering the public sphere.

.Minister of introduced the Constitutional (One Hundred and Tenth) Amendment Bill, 2009 in the on 26.11.2009.

elected representatives of , 36.87% are women.With the proposed Constitutional Amendment, the number of elected women representatives is expected to rise to more than 14 .

are the democratic institutions and need to be further empowered through effective devolution of functions, finances and functionaries (3Fs) following the principles of and centrality of . This would also ensure convergence of plethora of schemes and pooling of resources through holistic planning by . Empowerment and Accountability Incentive Scheme, which aims at States to devolve 3Fs to and to be more transparent and accountable, would be given higher allocation based on a devolution index.

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was commemorated on 2 Oct.09. in self-governance and transparent and accountable functioning of the Gram .2.10.2009 to 2.10.2010 is being observed as ‘Year of the Gram ’. Apart from making all efforts to ensure effective functioning of the Gram , following action are being taken; legal, policy and changes required for empowering the particularly the Gram ; building systems & processes for ensuring greater efficiency, transparency & accountability of the , andlaunching mass awareness of and specific activities by the Gram & .

Bill, 2009

Bill. The will ensure participatory and people-oriented system of justice with greater scope for mediation, conciliation and compromise. Being closer to the people geographically and psychologically, the would be the ideal forum to save time, trouble and expenses of parties and witnesses. It would also reduce the workload of judiciary.

) to build their confidence and capacity so that they get over the institutional, societal and political constraints that prevent them from active participation in rural local self government. 22 States have formed the Core Committee and organized the State Level . 9 State Support have been established under the scheme. (Andhra Pradesh, , , Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, , , West Bengal and Andaman & Island). 11 States have been conducted training sensitization under the scheme. (Andhra Pradesh, Pradesh, , , Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, , Assam, Andaman & Island and )

have been organized in 11 States. (, , , Andhra Pradesh, Pradesh, Rajasthan, , Manipur, , West Bengal and Andaman & Island). State Level Association of has been formed in the States of and .

to spread the benefits of India’s rapid economic development to the rural areas through the medium of Institutions (). RBH is a participatory development model for the rural areas of the country that is built on the platform of 4 P, i.e. Public-Private--Partnership. The RBH initiative is aimed at moving from mere livelihood support to promoting rural prosperity, increasing rural non-farm incomes and augmenting rural employment.

35 districts have been identified for focused RBH intervention in consultation with State Governments. Services of reputed organizations have been enlisted as Gateway Agencies for supporting in identification of potential and their development. Financial assistance to 49 projects has been extended for establishment of RBH. is being evaluated for possible in the future.