Panchayat Development Index (PDI)

07.12.2023

Panchayat Development Index (PDI)  , Daily Current Affairs , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow

Why in the news?

Recently, the Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj informed the Lok Sabha about the Panchayat Development Index.

Important points:

• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is driving the process of localization of Sustainable Development Goals to achieve the Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030, adopting 9 themes.
• To assess and measure the progress made by grassroots level institutions in achieving the localized SDGs and thus achieving the SDGs 2030, the Ministry has released a report on the Panchayat Development Index (PDI).

About Panchayat Development Index:

• It is a multi-domain and multi-sectoral index used to assess the overall development, performance and progress of Panchayats.
• It takes into account various socio-economic indicators and parameters to assess the well-being and development status of local communities within the jurisdiction of a Panchayat.
• Under this, a local indicator framework was prepared on nine topics of localization of Sustainable Development Goals.
• The PDI will be calculated on 577 local indicators assessing development across 9 themes, 144 local targets and 642 unique data points to monitor progress towards the LSDGs.

Nine subjects:

• Poverty free and increased livelihood in villages.
• Kid friendly village.
•  Villages with enough water.
• Clean and green village.
• Villages with self-reliant infrastructure.
• Socially just and socially safe villages.
• Healthy village.
• Well governed villages.
• Women friendly village.

Rank:

It ranks panchayats based on index scores, and classifies them into four grades.

• Grade D with less than 40 percent score
• 40-60 percent in grade C
• 60-75 percent in grade B
• 75 to 90 percent grade A
• Whereas villages scoring above 90 percent will be kept in A+ category.

Factor:

This index generally considers the following factors.

• Infrastructure: Availability of basic facilities like roads, electricity, water supply, sanitation facilities etc.
• Health and education: Access to health services, educational institutions, literacy rates and enrollment in schools.
• Economic Indicators: Income levels, employment opportunities, agricultural productivity and economic activities.
• Social indicators: poverty rates, gender equality, social inclusion and overall quality of life.
• Governance and Administration: Efficiency and transparency of local governance, delivery of public services and citizen participation.
• Environmental sustainability: Measures related to ecological balance, conservation and sustainable practices.

Importance:

• Panchayat Development Index will play an important role in performance evaluation and progress assessment in achieving LSDGs in rural areas.
• This will provide valuable insights into the areas that need attention for improvement in rural areas under the jurisdiction of Panchayats.
• It helps in identifying inequalities, designing targeted policies and interventions to achieve development goals and enhance the overall well-being and quality of life of rural communities.
• The outcome of the PDI will measure incremental progress through scores achieved by the Panchayat towards achievement of LSDGs and the baseline data of the PDI will be used to set local targets and actionable points in preparation of evidence based Panchayat Development Plan to achieve the desired targets for improvement.
• PDI will also motivate Panchayats to develop replicable processes on various innovative models of LSDG themes through coordination mechanisms.

Panchayati Raj Institution:

• The institution of Panchayati Raj is a system of rural local self-government in India.
• Local self-government is the management of local affairs by local bodies elected by the local people.

To establish democracy at the local level, the Panchayati Raj institution was given constitutional status through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 and was entrusted with the task of rural development in the country.