Why is it in the News?

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

About the Panchayat Development Index:

• The Panchayat Development Index serves as a comprehensive and versatile metric designed to actively evaluate the holistic advancement, efficacy, and ongoing progress of panchayats.
• This index actively considers a spectrum of socio-economic indicators and parameters, offering an actively nuanced understanding of the well-being and developmental status of local communities within the panchayat's jurisdiction.
• Objectives: The primary objective is to actively play a pivotal role in assessing performance and progress towards actively achieving Sustainable Development Goals at the grassroots level.
• An active component of this initiative is the Local Indicators Framework, which encompasses nine key themes for actively localising Sustainable Development Goals.
• These themes actively encompass creating poverty-free and thriving livelihoods, ensuring health and actively child-friendly environments, actively promoting water sufficiency, actively fostering clean and green spaces, actively developing self-sufficient infrastructure, actively establishing socially just and secure communities, actively promoting good governance, and actively creating women-friendly villages.

How Ranking Works?

• Ranks within the index are actively assigned based on scores, actively categorising panchayats into four grades.
• Those actively scoring below 40 percent are actively classified as Grade D,
• 40-60 percent as Grade C,
• 60-75 percent as Grade B
• 75-90 percent as Category A
• and those actively surpassing 90 percent are actively designated as A+.
• Significance of this Index: The significance of this index lies in its ability to actively offer valuable insights into areas requiring attention and improvement within rural areas under panchayat jurisdiction.
• It actively aids in identifying disparities, gauging the achievement of development goals, and actively crafting targeted policies and interventions to elevate the overall well-being and quality of life in rural communities.