Kapil Moreshwar Patil inaugurates the National Workshop on Healthy Village towards Healthier Tomorrow today at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil inaugurated the three-day National Workshop on ‘Healthy Village towards Healthier Tomorrow’ at Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh today. Deputy Chief Minister and Panchayat Raj & Rural Development Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh Budi Mutyala Naidu and Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India Vivek Bharadwaj were also present on the occasion.
In his keynote address, Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil said nation is building and stepping ahead resolutely under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Patil highlighted the transformative power of collaborative efforts and a firm determination at Gram Panchayat level in addition to the resources and initiatives of the Government in ensuring health and wellbeing for all. Emphasizing grassroots collaboration, he urged a focus on the set nine Goals under LSDGs, advocating for local empowerment and community participation.
Patil pointed out the need for every Gram Panchayat to focus on all the LSDGs themes in a strategic manner, for holistic and sustainable development. He highlighted how the mindset is changing and nation is transforming under the strong and visionary leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He urged for a commitment to the nine localized sustainable goals identified by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, envisioning vibrant villages as catalysts for holistic development in rural areas – Grameen Bharat. Minister of State said that Government is aiming to take all its schemes to saturation through Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra and reaching out to every doorstep to extend the benefits of the government welfare schemes to all the eligible beneficiaries across the country.
Kapil Moreshwar Patil lauded the global shift towards carbon neutrality and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for India's remarkable progress. Patil mentioned the first initiative of Renewable Energy and Carbon Neutral was taken in Palli Gram Panchayat under Samba District in Jammu and Kashmir and all the PRIs must work in this direction. He expressed the need to replicate the Palli Gram Panchayat Model for cleaner, healthier and better tomorrow.
Mentioning the initiatives of the State Government, Budi Mutyala Naidu said that Wellness Centres are being constructed through convergence utilizing MGNREGS funds. The participants were motivated to learn that Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil and Deputy Chief Minister and Panchayat Raj & Rural Development Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh Budi Mutyala Naidu had begun their journey as Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat and now holding the high offices. Their meteoric journey from the Office of Sarpanch to the high offices will serve as an inspiration for the Panchayat representatives.
Addressing the National Workshop Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj highlighted the importance of people-oriented policy formulation and effective implementation for institutionalizing Theme 2 of LSDGs – Healthy Village – to ensure Health and Wellbeing for all at all ages through availability, accessibility, affordability, and appropriate health care Services. He emphasized on the roles of Gram Panchayats to identify three key priorities: first, fostering awareness generation; second, enhancing community participation and involvement to enhancing and ensuring easy access to health services; and coordination among Panchayats and Health Department and ensuring the effective functioning of all forums and Committees such as Bal Sabha, Mahila Sabha, Rogi Kalyan Samiti (Patients’ Welfare Committee), Swasthya Samiti (Health Committee) etc. Bharadwaj highlighted India’s resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, showcasing the nation’s ability to develop its own vaccine, which is a testament to power and positive impact of innovation and determination in the country.
ecretary mentioned that around 13,000 Gram Panchayats have resolved to achieve the status of Healthy Village and expressed hope that these Gram Panchayats will become role model for other Gram Panchayats to take the Sankalp to achieve the LSDGs Thematic Goal of Healthy Village. Bharadwaj underlined that the National Workshop will offer an opportunity to all stakeholders to share their ideas, views and best practices.
Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Budithi Rajsekhar, Special Chief Secretary, Department of Panchayat Raj & Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh,Vikas Anand, Joint Secretary, MoPR, Smt. A. Surya Kumari, Commissioner, Department of RD & PR, Government of Andhra Pradesh and other distinguished dignitaries and Panchayat Representatives are participating in the National Workshop.
Addressing the National Workshop Additional Secretary Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar mentioned a number of initiatives taken by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, in association with line Ministries / Departments and State Governments, towards healthy village, including TB-Mukt Panchayat initiative. Dr. C. S. Kumar said that there has been a large number of footfalls, in crores, at the health camps being organized during the ongoing Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in a significant milestone demonstrating provisioning of healthcare services to the last mile.
Budithi Rajsekhar, Special Chief Secretary, Department of Panchayat Raj & Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh said that initiatives under Healthy Village initiatives in Andhra Pradesh are contributing to healthy and vibrant India, Panchayats are rapidly transforming into Healthy Villages. He highlighted that Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra outreach initiative of the Government of India has received phenomenal response in the State of Andhra Pradesh; around 14 lakh people were screened during Arogya Suraksha Health Camps, Ayushman / Arogya Cards distributed among all eligible beneficiaries, implementation of SVAMITVA Scheme completed in 1000 villages, nutrition-based benefits being extended through kitchen gardens to nutritional standards of low-income etc.
A host of Senior Officers of the Line Departments of Government of India and State Governments, representatives of NIRD&PR, SIRD&PRs, Panchayati Raj Training Institutes, United Nations/ National NGOs and around 800 elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from across the country are attending the National Workshop. The National Workshop at Tirupati serves as an apt and vibrant platform to bring together policy makers, government officials, experts, Panchayat representatives and stakeholders to deliberate on strategies and initiatives aimed at creating enabling environment, promoting local actions, mobilizing resources and fostering healthier rural communities.
Elected representatives and Functionaries of Panchayati Raj Institutions, Officials from different Line Departments from the State of Andhra Pradesh, members of Self-Help Groups, officials and grassroots functionaries of Health Department are also attending the National Workshop. Panchayats that have been conferred with the prestigious National Panchayat Awards on Theme 2: Healthy Village will also share their best practices and insightful experiences through small video film presentation during the Three-day National Workshop focused on achieving the goal of creating Healthy Villages. Representatives of UN Agencies, Jhpiego, National Health Authority (NHA), National Institute of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW), NIMHANS and National Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) viz. Transform Rural India Foundation (TRIF) are also participating in the National Workshop.
Different working groups will deliberate on different aspects of the Healthy Village. Presentation will provide their insights on strategies, approaches & road map to envision healthy village through different promotive, preventive measures to reduce malnutrition, lifestyle diseases, vector born disease, measuring the important health indicators and the role of PRIs in ensuring accessibility of quality health services to the citizen.
The main objective of the workshop will be exhibiting the best strategies, approaches, convergent actions and innovative models in context to capacity building & training; best practices; monitoring framework, incentivization and reflection of themes of SDGs into Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). This workshop provides a unique platform for collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and strategizing towards building a healthier tomorrow. Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) aims to localize the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and address specific challenges and opportunities at the grassroots level. Theme 2 of LSDGs i.e. Healthy Village focuses on the holistic development of villages, with an emphasis on health and well-being.