In keeping with the commitment to the cause of empowering the poor the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has three important Abhiyans (movements) :
· Panchayat Mahila Shakti Abhiyan in collaboration with the national
Commission for Women (NCW) under the overall rubric of the NCW’s Chalo Gaon Ki Ore porgamme. The aim of the Abhiyan is to bring together in each State/UT the elected women members of the Panchayats at all three levels to give them a sense of self-confidence and solidarity, and provide a forum for the exchange of experience and information among themselves. At present, many women in the Panchayats feel isolated and powerless, particularly because of the persistence of gender prejudices and gender discrimination in the social mores of village life. The Abhiyan aims to encourage a sense of sisterhood among elected women panchayat members by encouraging them to discuss their problems among themselves, prepare a charter of objectives and disseminate the charter at State, division, district, block and village levels through discussion among themselves. The success of the Abhiyan essentially depends on a sense of ownership of the charter of objective by the members themselves. The Panchyat Mahila Shaki Abhiyan has been launched in Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka, Manipur, Haryana and Goa etc.
· Panchyat Yuva Shakti Abhiyan in collaboration with the youth clubs, sports clubs and mahila mandals affiliated to the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan. The 2.5 lakh NYKS-affiliated youth clubs nearly match the number of panchayats in rural India. To a very significant extent, they cover the same geographical area. At the same time, available indications are that between 40% and 70% of elected Panchayat representatives are youth under 35, as defined in the National Youth Policy. Therefore, an endeavour is underway to synergise Youth Power in the NYKS youth clubs with Youth Power in the Panchayats on the basis of a charter of objectives jointly prepared by youth club representatives and youth representatives in the Panchayats and carried by the youth themselves from the State to the division/district/block/village levels. The Abhiyan has thus far been launched in Haryana, Punjab, Manipur Goa etc. While many other countries have ageing populations, the vast majority of Indians are likely to be in the most product phase of their lives during at least the first half of the 21st century, the average age in India now being around 23 years. Youth Power is, thus, the key to pitch-forking India from its present low position in the UNDP’s Human Development Index to a higher place in the human development league. The Panchyat Yuva Shakti Abhiyan is an attempt to reach out to the youth power available among the 80 lakh members of the NYKS and the approximately 20 lakh youth members of the elected local bodies.
· Panchyat Yuva Khel Abhiyan, aimed at synergising funding to Panchayats with management by the NYKS youth clubs to ensure at least minimum organized games facilities in all village panchayats within the next five years. This is an ambitious programme which seeks to converge existing rural development schemes with additional central/state and voluntary funding to afford some 45 crore rural children, adolescents and youth who are today with no access to organized sports facilities with such access.
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(Release ID :28561)