Bhubaneswar, March 10: At least 160 Gram Panchayats have been developed as Panchayat Learning Centres (PLCs) under Revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) in Odisha.

This information was given by Union Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

As many as 1,152 Gram Panchayats have been developed as Panchayat Learning Centres (PLCs) under Revamped RGSA in the country.

The Panchayati Raj Ministry is implementing the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) w.e.f. financial year 2022-23 with the main objective of building the capacity of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) through imparting training to Elected Representatives (ERs) and other stakeholders of Panchayats, to develop their governance capabilities for leadership roles and to enable the Panchayats to function effectively.

Apart from training interventions, under RGSA, the Ministry supplements the efforts of States/UTs on a limited scale by supporting the establishment of institutional mechanisms for capacity building and training, and by providing infrastructural support such as construction of Gram Panchayat Bhawans, procurement of computers, co-location of Common Service Centres (CSCs) in Gram Panchayat Bhawans, development of Panchayat Learning Centres (PLCs), etc.

Gram Panchayats with success stories/good practices or which have already shown exemplary work in identified themes for Local Sustainable Development Goals are developed as PLCs. The basic infrastructure in the PLCs is developed to facilitate exposure visits to showcase their initiatives and creation/establishment of digital libraries, etc. for strengthening capacity building and knowledge enhancement of elected representatives.

The Ministry has developed a framework under RGSA for the establishment of PLCs in selected well-performing Gram Panchayats as decentralized training and resource centres for capacity building and peer learning. The framework provides for the identification of beacon Panchayats and utilisation of existing Panchayat infrastructure and ICT facilities supported under RGSA on a limited scale. PLCs facilitate experiential and e-learning through exposure visits, demonstrations, documentation of best practices, preparation of learning materials, and structured training modules covering Panchayat governance processes, GPDP preparation, participatory planning, leadership, and local development initiatives. The Centres function as local knowledge hubs, enabling elected representatives and functionaries to learn through immersion-based training and sharing of good governance practices.

Under RGSA, support is provided for capacity building and training of elected representatives, Panchayat functionaries, and other stakeholders on planning, financial management, accounting, transparency, public service delivery, good governance practices, etc. The support for the training, as well as the venue of the training, however, is provided based on proposals submitted by States and approved by the Central Empowered Committee at the Central level.