Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) / राष्ट्रीय ग्राम स्वराज अभियान

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan is introduced by the both central and state union Government of India. The scheme is proposed to help the Panchayati Raj Institutions to deliver more sustainable goals and speed up the overall growth of development in rural areas. Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) is a project which is implemented by both the center and the state governments across various states in India to reform and strengthen the Panchayat levels. This RGSA scheme is sponsored by both the central as well as the state government. The funding pattern of the Scheme has been 75% by the Central Government and 25% by the State Government. The Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan will strengthen the Panchayati Raj system across the country and address critical gaps that constrain its success. In the Union Budget of 2016-17, the Hon’ble Finance Minister Shree Arun Jaitley has announced that a total of Rs. 655 crore is to be allocated for the strengthening and development of the gram panchayats. The objective of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Yojana (RGSY) to providing support to the initiatives of the States and UTs for Capacity Building and Training of the Panchayati Raj Institutions

The main aims of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan:

1. Enhance capacities and effectiveness of Panchayats and the Gram Sabhas
2. Enable democratic decision-making and accountability in Panchayats and promote people’s participation
3. Strengthen the institutional structure for knowledge creation and capacity building of Panchayats
4. Promote devolution of powers and responsibilities to Panchayats according to the spirit of the Constitution and PESA act
5. Strengthen Gram Sabhas to function effectively as the basic forum of people’s participation, transparency, and accountability within the Panchayat system
6. Create and strengthen democratic local self-government in areas where Panchayats do not exist
7. Strengthen the constitutionally mandated framework on which Panchayats are founded

Features of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan:

1. The RGSA is a unique scheme which was proposed to develop and strengthen the Panchayati Raj system across India, mainly in rural areas. The main motto of the center behind promoting this scheme is to make development in rural India, which will subsequently lead to development in the whole country
2. The main motto of the scheme is to train and assist the Gram Panchayats who get elected across the country so that they can perform their work efficiently at the basic level
3. Several responsibilities for the rural development are given to the gram panchayat leaders who work maintaining liaison with the state govt. The gram panchayats will be given skill development training under the RGSA scheme. Several capacity building and training centers will be formed for the training of the gram panchayats at several levels like gram panchayat level, block level, and Zilla Parishad level

Implementation of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan:

1. The center will assist the states to promote and implement the RSGA so that capacity building of the gram panchayats can be done efficiently. After gram panchayat elections, the elected members are given the responsibility to perform the administrative and governance works at grass root level i.e. panchayat level
2. The states along with the assistance of center will arrange training centers and skill development workshops for the elected members of the gram panchayat and panchayat officials. The training centers with institutional capability will not only have regular training schedule but also distance learning programs for the elected representatives of the panchayats

References and Details:

1. For more details about Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA): http://rgsa.nic.in/welcome.do
2. Ministry of Panchayat Raj visit: http://www.panchayat.gov.in/