A four-day webinar titled ‘Preparation of Model Village/Smart Village Plan’ kick-started today. IIT Roorkee, a Regional Coordinating Institute, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan in association with National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), Guwahati, is organizing it. The webinar aims to disseminate awareness to participants on the planning of Adarsh Grams. Prof. Ashish Pandey, Regional Coordinator, IIT Roorkee informed that the holistic development of villages in line with Mahatma Gandhi’s vision will not only transform them into ideal and smart villages but will also be a step forward in realizing the goal of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat.’
In the inaugural session, Prof. M. Parida, Deputy Director, IIT Roorkeeinformed that Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan mandates the institution with the development and regional planning of two villages- Beladi and Chharba. Prof. Uttam Kumar and Prof. Shubhjeet, Department of Architecture and Planning, IIT Roorkee will lead the initiative. He further said IIT Roorkeewould form a team of students to initiate the work in this direction.
The inaugural session was also presided by Joint Magistrate, Roorkee, and a senior IAS officer Ms. Namami Bansal. She highlighted that the absence of basic infrastructure in villages has compelled youth to relocate to cities. The development of villages will not only curb urban migration but also make them self-sufficient and prosperous. She assured of the support of local administration for the development of Beladi and Chharba villages by IIT Roorkee and Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
Prof. R.M. Pant, Director, (NIRDPR), Guwahati, said that India has 6,64,369 villages that are home to 83 crores population. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan by the Government of India is committed to ushering a holistic development of villages. The process of instituting planning framework will start from villages in consultation with the rural population.
Prof. M. K. Srivastava, (NIRDPR), Guwahati, gave a brief overview of the technical sessions to be held as a part of the four-day webinar.
The session concluded with a vote of thanks by Prof. Ashish Pandey, Regional Coordinator, UBA, IIT Roorkee. Sixty-Three participants comprising coordinators and rural folks from Western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand attended the webinar.