SRINAGAR: CS, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, today released the rankings of Panchayats under the Aspirational Panchayat Development Programme (APDP), a J&K government initiative to assess the performance of these rural administrative units on key developmental parameters. This move could be regarded as a historic milestone in the planning process. The Chief Secretary began by praising the whole Planning Development & Monitoring Department team, led by Administrative Secretary RaghavLangar, for successfully completing this significant data gathering, compilation, and Panchayat ranking effort.Dr. Mehta referred to this exercise as a stepping stone towards adopting a more targeted strategy with a number of important datasets accessible for each District. He noted that by identifying the gaps in each sector or section of the district, these rankings have made targeted solutions possible. He referred to the rankings as a significant accomplishment that had set the stage for future evidence-based planning. He implied that these rankings reveal everything about our past efforts and our future course. He advised each and every Deputy Commissioner to carefully review these rankings and make plans to address the developmental gaps identified.Dr. Mehta noted that this data has the extra benefit of giving us a benchmark to use to gauge our future progress. He gave off the impression that we will quickly solve the majority of our difficulties in the coming years because of the planning process. In order for people to have a clear understanding of the types of interventions required in their communities, he requested that all rankings be made public in the form of a compendium. He described it as an instrument for guaranteeing effective leadership in the UT. Additionally, he suggested setting up a permanent dashboard for tracking and upgrading these rankings on a monthly basis.He also instructed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to conduct Town rankings in the coming days in a similar manner. Syedpora, Harwan Panchayat of District Srinagar is ranked top in the first-of-its-kind Panchayat rankings, which were published today, with an overall score of 91.69 out of 100. Palli (Samba), which had a score of 90.71, came in second, followed by Balhama-A, Khonmoh (Srinagar), which received a score of 89.04. The next most developed Panchayat in the UT is NarwalBala (Jammu), which is ranked fourth with a score of 88.93, followed by Nowgam-A (Srinagar), Khonmoh-A (Srinagar), Birpur Upper (Samba), Theed-A, Dara-B (Srinagar), and Gatha Panchayat of Baderwah (Doda), which is ranked sixth. The lowest scoring Panchayats include Buglinder-B (49.78) of Tulail District Bandipora, Dhakikote (50.01) of District Reasi, Channa-A (51.58) of Reasi, Panchalthan (51.77) in Anantnag, Bandhar (51.96) in Reasi, Neeru (51.97) in Tulail, Bandipora, Badhal-A (52.58) in Rajouri, Zadigye- B (52.73) in Bandipora, Balihote-B (52.94) in Ramban and Zadigye-A (53.46). In all the districts of J&K, there are 4291 Panchayats overall, of which 73 have a score between 50 and 60, 1054 between 60 and 70, 2359 between 70 and 80, and 807 between 80 and 90.On the basis of the least aggregate score obtained on the chosen 100 parameters/indicators in the Panchayat Development Index (PDI) in the relevant Block, one of the 4291 Panchayats of the UT of J&K was chosen as the most backward in each block. The pertinent information was then gathered from the appropriate districts. These 100 quantifiable indicators, spread across 9 sectors and including Agriculture & Allied Activities (6 indicators), Health & Nutrition (11), Education (13), Rural Development & Sanitation (7), Individual Beneficiary Oriented Schemes (4), Skill Development (4), Basic Infrastructure (17), Environment (5), & Good Governance (33) are giving us an understanding of where we are now and will also record small steps of progress over time. The selected Panchayats are receiving an additional Rs. 10 lakh in funding in order to improve the key performance parameters listed in the Panchayat Development Index. Nearly 77 Panchayats out of 82 border Blocks are included in the project for aspirational panchayats in the border area. The most backward Panchayat among them, according to the established criteria, was identified through assessment as Buglinder-B from Block Tulail District Bandipore, with a score of 49.78. In contrast, Panchayat Nanga of Block Ramgarh, District Samba was the final Aspirational Panchayat chosen from Border Areas. With a score of 79.59, it is the most developed Panchayat among the Border Panchayats dispersed among 8 districts of the UT. In front of all of the Administrative Secretaries, District Development Commissioners, HoDs of Planning and Finance, and representatives from other relevant agencies, the Chief Secretary today announced these rankings.
