5-day training prog for Zilla Parishad representatives starts

The state Panchayats and Rural Development (P&RD) department on Wednesday kicked off a five-day residential training of newly elected Sabadhipatis and Sahakari Sabadhipatis of all the districts at IIM Kolkata.

“The three-tier Panchayat system in the state has been newly constituted throughout the district. The training programme aims to impart management skills to elected representatives and will help them to deliver the various social schemes and projects of the state government more efficiently and transparently,” Pradip Mazumder, state P & RD minister said inaugurating the training programme on Wednesday.

Sabhadhipatis and Sahakari Sabhadhipatis of all 20 Zilla Parishads have joined the residential training.

“We have been in talks with the reputed management institute over the last two years so that the newly elected Panchayat functionaries can be trained in areas like fiscal prudence, time management, office management and teamwork. The training will be covering a breadth of issues like communication skills, women’s empowerment, local entrepreneurship, grassroots-level leadership, and negotiation,” a senior official of the department said.

Mazumder expressed his optimism that the training would boost the confidence of the functionaries.

“We will also carry out evaluation from time to time and will hold discussions with the functionaries so that services to the common people can be delivered in the best possible manner,” Mazumder said.

Minister of state of P & RD department, Seuli Saha, P Ulaganathan, secretary, P&RD Department and other senior officials of the department were present.

All the participants will be given certificates from IIM.As per plans, in the next session, Sabhapatis of 345 Panchayat Samitis will undergo a three-day residential training with expert support from the Centre for Rural Development and Innovative and Sustainable Technology of IIT-Kharagpur. The training venue will be the BR Ambedkar Institute of Panchayat and Rural Development in Kalyani.

The training programmes have been developed by institutes like the Institute of Rural Management Anand in Gujarat and the Kerala Institute of Local Administration.