AP’s gram sabhas get World Records Union recognition
World Records Union Official Records Manager Christopher Taylor Croft hands over the record document to Deputy Chief Minister and minister for panchayat raj and rural development Pawan Kalyan in Hyderabad on Monday
Vijayawada: The panchayat raj and rural development department headed by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan set a world record by conducting gram sabhas in 13,326 village panchayats in the name of ‘Swarna Gram Panchayat’ on a single day on August 23 across the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The state has received global recognition from World Records Union for the feat achieved in a single day on August 23.
The record document and the medal were handed over to Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan in Hyderabad on Monday by Christopher Taylor Croft, Official Records Manager of the World Records Union.
The organisation has recognised gram sabhas held in a single day with public participation as the largest village governance.
The gram sabhas organised on August 23 had sanctioned 87 types of projects with an outlay of nearly Rs 4,500 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The meetings held in all 13,326 gram panchayats across the state, passed resolutions approving various works.
Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who holds the portfolio of panchayat raj and rural development, launched the programme at Mysooravaripalli village in Railway Kuduru mandal of Annamayya district.
Officials of the panchayat raj and rural development department finalised the works under the aegis of the sarpanches and with the direct involvement of the people.
According to officials, sanctioning works worth Rs 4,500 crore in one day is a world record.
They said 87 types of works under MGNREGS will create nine crore man-days that would benefit 54 lakh families.
Pawan Kalyan had said that the state’s development and ‘golden villages’ were his goal.
He claimed that the state government has undertaken the programme by rising above politics. He pointed out that 70 per cent of the panchayats were ruled by the YSRCP but the government was taking up works in all panchayats.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu participated in the gram sabha at Vanapalli village.