Samdong GPU bags Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar

GANGTOK, 23 Apr [IPR]: On the occasion of the National Panchayat Day, 24 April 2014 the Directorate of Panchayati Raj, under Rural Management and Development Department, Government of Sikkim has announced that the Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar, 2014 has been awarded to Samdong Gram Panchayat Unit, West Sikkim with a prize money of Rs. 10 lakh for holding the most effective Gram Sabhas during the year culminating in a host of other achievements.
24 April 2014 marks 21 glorious years of the inclusion of Panchayats in the Indian constitution as an institution of self-governance. Every year National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on this historic day.
On this occasion, National awards under the “Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Incentive Scheme” (PEAIS) and the ‘Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar’ (RGGSP) are conferred upon the best performing States and Panchayats by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. These categories of awards fall under the umbrella scheme ‘Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan’.
The Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar’ is awarded to the Gram Panchayat that practices best Gram Sabha in the country and Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar under PEAIS is awarded to the best performing Zilla Panchayat and Gram Panchayat Units in the country.
Further, 3 GPUs have been recognised under the Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar (PEAIS), 2014. South District Zilla Panchayat has been awarded best performing District Zilla Panchayat with a prize money of Rs. 50 lakh.
Mellidara-Paiyong, South District has been declared the best performing GPU under category ‘A’. (Category “A” is competition between GPUs who have already won National Awards previously) and awarded prize money of Rs. 8 lakh.
Karmatar Gyaten, West District has been declared the best performing GPU under category ‘B’. (Category “B” is competition between GPUs who have never won any National Awards) and awarded a prize money of Rs. 8 lakh.
Under the Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar the performance of Panchayats during 2012 -13 was assessed by the State as per the guidelines of Ministry of Panchayati Raj. The exercise started with customization of questionnaires received from the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to make it more applicable to the State. These questionnaires were then distributed to all 176 Gram Panchayat Units and 4 District Zilla Panchayats after a daylong workshop with all Panchayats.
Evaluation and ranking were conducted by the Directorate of Panchayati Raj, Sikkim. Two State Field verification team were formed, consisting of members from well known NGOs in the State; ECOSS and VHAS. These Field verification teams were then sent to conduct field verification to top 6 GPUs and all 4 ZPs.
Finally, after detailed consideration based on the reports submitted by the State Field verification team final names of 2 GPs namely Mellidara and Karmatar, and South Zilla Panchayat was nominated from the State. On 07 February 2014 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj then sent the National Field verification team to visit the nominated Zilla Panchayat and Gram Panchayats after which the final results were declared.
Achievements of Samdong GPU
·      100% immunization of children between the age group of 0-5 years.
·      80% institutional delivery.
·      Timely distribution of supplies through PDS fair price shops.
·      Compulsory enrolment of children till the age of 14 to schools, hence there has not been any incident of child labour within the GPU.
·      Voluntary contribution from the public in the form of labour.
·      Bringing the ST/SC population at par by prioritizing them in all schemes/projects.
·      Enrolment of unemployed youths in Livelihood Schools across the State.
·      Through majority consensus during the Gram Sabha, the GPU has stated generating own sources through user changes for water and garbage disposed tax.