Page 11 - MGMG July to December 2019 Special Issue

No. of ACR required 138

No. of school building which require Upgradation 37

No. of schools which require Playground 272

No. of school running in Rented accommodation 56

No. of school which require Road connectivity 539

Soft issue

The issue of hygiene and quality food in Mid-Day Meal programme emerged in 55 No. of

schools of the District shall be addressed shortly through coordinated monitoring of Village

Education Committees/Social Audit Committees/Parent committees.

Similar analyses were made available for each sector across districts.
The Back to Village Programme in its first edition was an unqualified success. Besides establishing a
warm and direct connect between the topmost echelons of administration and the people at village level,
it also helped generate a broad report of the level of development across Panchayats besides drawing
attention towards critical areas which require immediate attention and laying down a roadmap for future
planning.

B2V2-the second edition of Back to Village intends to begin from where the June edition of Back to
Village left off. While it starts by questioning what has been done to follow up on the issues raised in
June, it also delves deeper into more critical issues like the ability (or lack of it) of Panchayats to spend
resources and to monitor staff and programmes. It also wants to drive home the important message that
with the empowerment of Panchayats comes added with responsibility too. Now they cannot just sit
back and critique the government or the administration. They too shall be held accountable for spending
resources devolved to them, programmes entrusted to them for monitoring and drawing up plans as per
the decisions in the Gram Sabha.

B2V has definitely raised expectations and hopes of faster and better development; the actual process of
delivering on the promises is bound to be is slow and tortuous. And this is what needs to be constantly
kept in mind. Back to Village or any variant of it can help in shining a light on what is done right and
what needs improvement but finally the executing agencies both elected and official have to pick up the
cues and fill in the gaps. This is the one lesson from the ground that must never be forgotten.

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