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India Gazette
26-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Panchayat Advancement Index 2.0 portal launched
New Delhi [India], May 26 (ANI): The two-day National Writeshop on Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) Version 2.0 for FY 2023-24 commenced on Monday at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi in the presence of Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, an official statement said. Other officials present in the event were Saurabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI); Sushil Kumar Lohani, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Rajib Kumar Sen, Senior Advisor, NITI Aayog. 'During the inaugural, the PAI 2.0 Portal was launched. Local Indicator Framework (LIF) Booklet for FY 2023-24 along with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was also released on this occasion,' read a statement from the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Delivering the inaugural address Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj emphasized upon the transformational potential of the Panchayat Advancement Index in enabling Panchayats to systematically assess and improve their performance across key areas of governance and service delivery. Referring to the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks, he said, 'We must now take that spirit forward in our Panchayats. When we record accurate data, we do not merely count; we contribute to the nation's transformation'. He highlighted that the PAI is not just a data collection tool but a mechanism to institutionalize transparent, accountable and performance-based Panchayat-level governance. He urged the ground functionaries to enter accurate data on the PAI portal 2.0 that will give a comprehensive view for holistic development of India. 'PAI data serves as the bedrock for equitable development, transparency, and participatory governance,' he added. He called upon all Gram Panchayats to display their PAI scorecards prominently at GP Bhawans to promote public participation and local accountability. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI, in his keynote remarks, commended the Ministry of Panchayati Raj for building a strong evidence-based platform aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He noted that 'India's SDG data availability has risen from 55% to nearly 95% in the last five years. PAI 2.0 embodies the spirit of 'Measure what we treasure and treasure what we measure'.' He highlighted how the PAI framework, through improved standardisation, harmonisation and visualisation, advances the national goal of inclusive, outcome-oriented governance. He stated that PAI will become the basis for achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat through 'Sabka Prayas' based on the bottom-up participatory approach for development and serve as a benchmark for many other indicators that help in measuring India's progress. Rajib Kumar Sen, Senior Advisor, NITI Aayog, observed that PAI 2.0 is a powerful bridge connecting local efforts to national and global commitments. He stated that it complements the SDG India Index and enhances India's readiness for future Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) at global forums. He appreciated the thoughtful design of PAI 2.0 and its relevance for enabling local institutions to evaluate the real-time impact of various schemes. Sushil Kumar Lohani, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, stated that the National Writeshop reflects the government's commitment to institutionalizing data-backed and evidence-based planning and monitoring in Panchayats. He emphasized that 'PAI 2.0 equips Panchayats with practical tools to assess their own progress, identify gaps, and plan meaningfully. It encourages a culture of healthy competition and continuous improvement.' PAI is a multidimensional assessment framework developed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to enable performance tracking of over 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats across nine themes aligned with the Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs). While PAI Version 1.0 served as the baseline and covered data from 2.16 lakh Gram Panchayats across 29 States/UTs, PAI Version 2.0 represents a major leap forward in functionality, efficiency, and usability. The transition from PAI 1.0 to 2.0 reflects a focused refinement of the framework, with a sharper and more practical set of indicators and data points to improve usability and reliability while retaining thematic comprehensiveness. The revised framework not only reduces the reporting burden but also improves data quality and reliability. The nine LSDG-aligned themes include: Poverty-free and Enhanced Livelihoods Panchayat, Healthy Panchayat, Child-Friendly Panchayat, Water-Sufficient Panchayat, Clean and Green Panchayat, Panchayat with Self-Sufficient Infrastructure, Socially Just and Socially Secured Panchayat, Panchayat with Good Governance, and Women-Friendly Panchayat. This Writeshop includes live demonstrations, technical walkthroughs, and hands-on exercises on portal configuration, data flow and validation. Day two will feature presentations from States and UTs on field experiences from PAI 1.0 and how they plan to utilize PAI 2.0 to enhance local planning and governance. It has brought together over 250 participants from 32 States/UTs, senior officials from relevant Ministries/Departments, representatives from Panchayati Raj Departments /Institutions/ SIRD&PRs of States/UTs, and technical and knowledge partners including NITI Aayog, MoSPI, National Informatics Centre (NIC), UNICEF, UNFPA, Transform Rural India (TRI), and the Piramal Foundation. (ANI)
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Working for nation's development also mark of patriotism: Panchayati Raj secretary
New Delhi, Guarding the borders is not the only act of patriotism and all those working for the nation's development are setting an example of devotion to the nation, said the secretary of the Panchayati Raj Ministry, Raj Vivek Bharadwaj, on Monday. He made the remarks while inaugurating a two-day workshop on the Panchayat Advancement Index that would measure growth at the village level. It aims at capacity building for data-based monitoring and planning at the village panchayat level to support holistic, inclusive, and sustainable development through Panchayati Raj Institutions. At the inauguration event, Bharadwaj said the index analyses over 100 indicators and gives a very comprehensive picture of overall development. "I am sure such a big effort has never been made before. With 2.5 lakh Panchayats being measured, there must be millions of data points," Bharadwaj said. "Sometimes we don't understand the value of our own contribution. Operation Sindoor has just concluded and our armies fought bravely. But there's isn't the only benchmark of patriotism." The Panchayati Raj Ministry said, "Standing at the border to guard the nation is not the only act of patriotism. All of us who are working for the development of the nation are contributing to it. We all are setting an example of our patriotism." "When you fill the correct data in PAI, when you ensure what is on the ground is reflected on the portal, you are contributing to the development of the country," he said to officials and panchayat members attending the workshop. Saurabh Garg, the Secretary of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation , said the PAI will help in getting data from the grassroots level. "It provides a very good basis for a bottom-up approach." He stressed that the index is the first of its kind, and will become a benchmark for other indicators to be developed. NITI Aayog Senior Advisor Rajib Kumar Sen said the index will help in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals . "It will provide the guidance required for a Viksit Bharat," he said. According to the Panchayati Raj Ministry, the PAI has been developed as a robust, multi-dimensional tool to assess and monitor the progress of village panchayats against nine themes aligned with the Localized Sustainable Development Goals . These themes cover areas such as poverty alleviation, health, education, water sufficiency, clean environment, infrastructure, governance, social justice, and women empowerment. While in the first phase - PAI 1.0 served as a baseline assessment tool, PAI 2.0 incorporates major enhancements based on extensive field experience and stakeholder feedback. It introduces a sharper and more focused framework by rationalising the number of indicators from 516 to 147. The refined Local Indicator Framework now emphasizes outcome-oriented, measurable indicators across nine LSDG themes, enabling village panchayats to track progress better, prioritise interventions, and enhance transparency in local governance.
Hans India
24-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
PAI Version 2.0 to ensure data-based monitoring, planning at gram panchayat level
New Delhi: The Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) Version 2.0 is aimed at building capacities for data-based monitoring and planning at the gram panchayat level to support the achievement of holistic, inclusive, and sustainable development in rural areas through Panchayati Raj Institutions, the government said on Saturday. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is organising a two-day 'Writeshop' on the PAI Version 2.0 in the capital on May 26-27 which marks the national roll out of PAI 2.0 for FY 2023–24. The PAI has been developed as a robust, multidimensional tool to assess and monitor the progress of Gram Panchayats against nine themes aligned with the Localised Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs). These themes cover areas such as poverty alleviation, health, education, water sufficiency, clean environment, infrastructure, governance, social justice and women's empowerment. While PAI 1.0 (FY 2022–23) served as a baseline assessment tool, PAI 2.0 incorporates major enhancements based on extensive field experience and stakeholder feedback. According to the ministry, PAI 2.0 introduces a sharper and more focused framework by rationalising the number of indicators from 516 to 147, ensuring higher data quality, ease of reporting, and actionable insights. The refined 'Local Indicator Framework' now emphasizes outcome-oriented, measurable indicators across nine LSDG themes, enabling Gram Panchayats to better track progress, prioritize interventions, and enhance transparency in local governance. The key improvements in PAI 2.0 include reduction in the number of indicators from 516 in PAI 1.0 to 147 in PAI 2.0 to improve usability and reduce reporting burden; rationalised data points and themes, focusing on quality over quantity; auto-integration of data from national portals of Union Ministries and Departments; and streamlined and mobile-friendly portal interface with improved dashboards and user accessibility, among others. Participants will also engage in hands-on group exercises for portal configuration, data entry, validation, and use of PAI outputs in planning. On the second day, State and UT teams will present their experiences, share implementation insights from PAI 1.0, and showcase how they plan to utilise PAI 2.0 for strengthening Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs).
The Hindu
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Getting the ‘micropicture' at the panchayat level
Critics point to the delay in conducting Census operations and releasing Census data to researchers. They also highlight the other surveys carried out by the government and/or the change in methodology, thereby making the availability of time series data difficult, as obstacles to overcome in evidence-based decision-making at all levels of government. But government officials point to the availability of mammoth data in the portals of different Ministries and also the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), 2012 of the Government of India. This policy intended to make non-sensitive government data available to the public in an open, accessible, and reusable format ( However, researchers complain that the data made available are not in a format which can be easily understood by the public or elected representatives. Citizens and even trained researchers feel overwhelmed by the voluminous data. Data visualisation tools on as well as other government portals are relatively under-developed. Data analytics leaves a lot to be desired. Consequently, decisions continue to be made based on experience and/or the intuitions of Ministers and senior bureaucrats at the Union and State levels. Data generation and use At the grassroots level — the gram panchayats, blocks and districts — data are only generated and fed into the system for use by senior officials at the State and national headquarters. Generally, portals are designed to meet the requirements of the heads of departments and secretaries and certainly not of government functionaries and elected representatives at the district, block or gram panchayat levels. Thus, we always get the 'mega picture' and not the 'micro picture'. Data at the gram panchayat level gets linked to a household and family and so becomes difficult to ignore if presented in an easily understandable form to residents. On the PAI It is in this context that the magnitude of the work that has gone into the making of Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) Baseline Report 2022-23 (officially released in April 2025 by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj) needs to be understood. PAI is a composite Index and has been compiled based on 435 unique local Indicators (331 mandatory and 104 optional) with 566 unique data points across nine themes of LSDGs (Localization of Sustainable Development Goals) aligned with the National Indicator Framework (NIF) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Validated data relating to over 2.16 lakh gram panchayats have been analysed and presented in a form where even a sarpanch or ward member can understand (with some support) not only where their GP stands in relation to the nine LSDGs but also what needs to be done to achieve them. Data relating to a little over 11,000 GPs were not included in PAI as they could not be validated as in laid down procedure. While 25 States/Union Territories provided validated data of almost 100%GPs, it is a matter of serious concern that Uttar Pradesh provided data for only 23,207 GPs (40%) out of its 57,702 GPs. This omission raises serious questions about the state of development in U.P. The PAI portal ( can serve as a useful tool for officials of line departments. A constituency-wise report generation facility can prove very useful for even Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly if they wish to make a specific intervention in respect of any LSDG. It is a dramatic shift that data have now been linked to outcome. For instance, is the GP really a healthy panchayat? Based on the scores of GP on Healthy Panchayat indicators, gaps can now be easily identified and plugged in a short period. Further, the role of all stakeholders such as the individual, community, elected representatives and frontline workers of the health department would also suggest themselves. Excellent coordination between the frontline workers of development departments such as rural development, panchayati raj, education, health, drinking water and elected panchayat representatives and civil society organisations (CSOs) is seen as a very important factor in the performance of GPs on PAI. It would be ideal if over 4,000 institutions linked with the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan undertake a study of at least five gram panchayats in their vicinity and explain to the community the implications of their PAI score and what could be done by them to improve their score. Hand-holding of GPs by these institutions and CSOs would go a long way in supplementing the role of departmental officials and attaining the SDGs. The PAI score card also has implications for how corporate social responsibility funds, the Prime Minister's Mineral Area Fund administered by the District Mineral Foundation (DMF), Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) and Member of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development Scheme (MLALAD) among others can be used for realisation of SDGs by 2030. Need for analysts There is an urgent need to provide trained data analysts at the block and district panchayat levels who can prepare and provide regular report cards for various stakeholders. More than the Union Government, PAI can be a gamechanger for State and local governments. A Similar Achievement Index should also be formulated for urban local governments. A baseline PAI report should be followed by publications of reports at regular intervals especially after the difficult groundwork has been done. PAI is much more than a ranking of GPs, Districts or States. It is a call for action. GPs faring poorly are in need of support. We need to not only understand where funds are going or how they are being used (or misused). We need to use the latest data visualisation tools to make all stakeholders understand their critical role and ensure that the goal of making India march forward on the path of development becomes a reality. Sunil Kumar is a visiting faculty at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and a member of the Pune International Centre. He is also a former Secretary of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India. The views expressed are personal
Arab Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Arab Times
PAI withdraws 22 industrial & craft plots violating rules
KUWAIT CITY, May 18: The Board of Directors of the Public Authority for Industry (PAI), chaired by Minister of Commerce and Industry Khalifa Al-Ajeel, decided to withdraw 22 industrial and craft plots during its meeting on Sunday. In a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), PAI confirmed the issuance of a decision to withdraw seven industrial plots and 15 craft plots from the beneficiaries who violated the terms and conditions for the distribution of such plots. The authority pointed out that the decision is based on the recommendation of the Permanent Committee for Industrial Violations. It revealed that the violations committed by the plot owners include closure of the plot, not operating the factory, failure to operate the factory within the specified period, lack of seriousness in implementing the industrial or craft project as there are no workers and work has been halted on the plot for some time, and some have not utilized the licensed plot. Meanwhile, Al-Ajeel granted judicial police powers to 37 male and female employees at the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate crimes committed in violation of the provisions of Law No. 7/2020 on establishing CMA and regulating securities activities, its executive regulations and their amendments. Ministerial Resolution No. 95/2025, published in the Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm), stipulates the expanded duties of employees covered by the resolution to include entering the headquarters of companies operating in the securities sector, headquarters of stock exchanges or any other entity located there; and reviewing the records, books, documents, data, recordings, computer systems or any other data storage or data processing media at the headquarters of the aforementioned entities or at any other entity in their possession or under their control. Moreover, Al-Ajeel outlined the rules for delegating Ministry of Commerce and Industry employees to positions that fall under the concept of 'attached to representative missions abroad.' Ministerial Resolution No. 97/2025 stipulates the termination of the provisions of Ministerial Resolution Nos. 506/2012 and 425/2019 referred hereto; and all secondment decisions issued in implementation of their provisions shall be deemed to have expired 45 days after the date of the issuance of the resolution on Sunday.
