Hundred gram panchayats of Bastar and Raipur district will participate in the project
‘Bihan’ groups and gram panchayats will work together to increase livelihood opportunities and reduce poverty
Women representatives of Bihan’s community organizations and Panchayati Raj institutions participated in the workshop organized on the occasion of the launch.
Raipur. 25 April 2023
The PRI-CBO Convergence (Panchayati Raj Institutions-Community based Organization Convergence) project was launched in Chhattisgarh on National Panchayati Raj Day. Under the project, self-help groups formed under the mission will be made entrepreneurs through convergence of community organizations and gram panchayats of the State Rural Livelihood Mission (Bihan) to increase livelihood opportunities and reduce poverty in villages. This project will be implemented in total 200 gram panchayats of four development blocks each of Bastar and Raipur districts. On the occasion of the launch of the project, office bearers of community organizations of ‘Bihan’ of both the districts and women representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions participated in the workshop organized at Thakur Pyarelal State Panchayat and Rural Development Institute (SIRD) Nimora, Raipur.
Under the PRI-CBO Convergence Project, Gram Panchayats and federations of self-help groups will work in convergence by promoting sustainable community-based organizations such as cluster organizations, village organizations and self-help groups to reduce rural poverty and generate livelihood opportunities. Under this, better coordination will be established between the local government and line departments to enhance the service delivery mechanism within the community. CBO network will also be created with gram panchayats and line departments. This project will be implemented in Bakavand, Bastanar, Lohandiguda and Tokapal development blocks of Bastar district and Abhanpur, Arang, Dharsiva and Tilda development blocks of Raipur district. In this, a total of 32 cluster organizations of ‘Bihan’ of 25-25 gram panchayats of all these development blocks and 640 village organizations and self-help groups associated with them will participate.
Inaugurating the project, the Director of Thakur Pyarelal Rajya Panchayat and Rural Development Institute Mr. P.C. Mishra said in the workshop that to get better benefits, it is necessary to have awareness about our rights and make continuous efforts to achieve them. This project will help the women of self help groups to achieve their goal. The Chief Operating Officer (CCO) of the State Rural Livelihood Mission, Mrs. Alice Lakra told in the workshop that better coordination between the three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions and the community organizations formed under ‘Bihan’ will lead to the development of villages on 17 indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). They have been regionalized and classified into nine themes.
सीओओ श्रीमती लकड़ा ने बताया कि गरीबी मुक्त एवं उन्नत आजीविका पंचायत, स्वस्थ पंचायत, चाइल्ड फ्रेन्डली पंचायत, पानी पर्याप्त पंचायत, स्वच्छ और हरित पंचायत, पंचायत में आत्मनिर्भर अधोसंरचना, सामाजिक रूप से सुरक्षित पंचायत, सुशासन वाली पंचायत और महिला हितैषी पंचायत जैसे थीम आपस में किस तरह से जुड़े हुए हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि पंचायतीराज संस्थाएं और ‘बिहान’ के सामुदायिक संगठन आपसी सहभागिता से गरीबी उन्मूलन पर कार्य करेगें तो निश्चित ही ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों को गरीबीमुक्त किया जा सकता है। इसके लिए पंचायतीराज संस्थाओं और राष्ट्रीय ग्रामीण आजीविका मिशन को एक-दूसरे का पूरक बनकर काम करने की जरूरत है।
Shri John Gabriel, Officer-in-Charge of the PRI-CBO Convergence Project, shared with the participants the objectives of the project and the roadmap for the next two years. He also informed about the quarterly targets. Dr. Ashok Jaiswal, faculty member at SIRD explained about the PESA Act, Village Poverty Alleviation Scheme and Gram Panchayat Development Scheme applicable in the Fifth Schedule areas in the workshop. Mr. Rajeev Tripathi of Transforming Rural India Foundation gave detailed information to the office bearers of the cluster level organization present in the workshop about making joint action plans, their implementation, monitoring and evaluation by better coordination with the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Addressing the workshop, Smt. Usha Rani of the National Mission Management Unit said that through the PRI-CBO Convergence Project, we can easily achieve the entitlement of the Didis of the group. Underlining the good works of ‘Bihan’ in Chhattisgarh, he extended best wishes for the effective implementation of this new project. Women representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and office bearers of cluster level organization of ‘Bihan’ also shared their experiences in the workshop.
