“India has attained new milestones in ‘Gram Swaraj’ and democratic empowerment of panchayats in the last eight years. Gram swaraj is considered an alternative model of rural reconstruction, whose primary focus is to ensure that villages are prosperous and self-reliant with good facilities”, said Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya.
Delivering a lecture at the symposium on ‘Gram Swaraj and 75 years of rural India’ organised by the Academy of Grassroots Studies and Research of India (AGRASRI) and Sri Venkateswara University here on Friday, he hailed Mahatma Gandhi’ s concept of rural governance as an ideal development approach even in the era of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. Explaining the policy framework and initiatives of the Union government in strengthening the concept, he asserted that the Centre had embarked on several things that Mahatma Gandhi had envisaged.
SVU Vice-Chancellor K. Raja Reddy said rural India owed its development over the last 75 years to the sacrifice and abundant labour of the elected representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions.
National Commission for Women (NCW) former member K. Santha Reddy wanted AGRASRI Director D. Sundar Ram to conduct training programmes for sarpanches and ward members on utilising central schemes meant for villages.
