- Evidence-Based rural development gets a push with rollout of first-ever Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) Baseline Report for FY 2022-23
- PAI 2022–23: Out of 2.16 Lakh Validated Panchayats, 35.8% Gram Panchayats Recognized as Performers; 61.2% Identified as Aspirants
- States with a high number of Performers include Gujarat (13781), Maharashtra (12,242), Telangana (10099) along with Madhya Pradesh (7,912), and Uttar Pradesh (6593)
- None of the Gram Panchayat is qualified as an Achiever
NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, APR 9
In a major stride towards localizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and empowering grassroots governance, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has on Wednesday launched the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) — a transformative tool to measure the progress of over 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) across India.
The PAI captures Panchayats’ performance across nine themes of Localized SDGs (LSDGs) ie. Poverty-Free and Enhanced Livelihoods in Panchayat, Healthy Panchayat, Child-Friendly Panchayat, Water-Sufficient Panchayat, Clean and Green Panchayat, Panchayat with Self-Sufficient Infrastructure, Socially Just and Socially Secured Panchayat, Panchayat with Good Governance and Women-Friendly Panchayat. These themes align global goals with rural realities, helping local governments tailor their strategies for holistic development.
State-wise, Gujarat led the pack with 346 Gram Panchayat as Front Runners, followed by Telangana with 270 Front Runners.
States with a high number of Performers include Gujarat (13781), Maharashtra (12,242), Telangana (10099) along with Madhya Pradesh (7,912), and Uttar Pradesh (6593) while Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh have a significant share of Aspirant Gram Panchayats, highlighting areas needing focused development efforts.
The 2022-23 PAI data reveals that out of 2,55,699 Gram Panchayats, 2,16,285 submitted validated data. While 699 (0.3%) Panchayats emerged as Front Runners, 77,298 (35.8%) were Performers, 1,32,392 (61.2%) were Aspirants while 5,896(2.7%) Gram Panchayats were at the Beginner Level. None of the Gram Panchayat is qualified as an Achiever. As of now, no inter-state comparison has been done.
