Atmanirbhar Bharat Swayampurna Goa gains momentum
PANAJI: The Goa government has set in motion the process of making village panchayats self-sustaining through its ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat Swayampurna Goem Scheme. The scheme was launched by Chief Minister Dr Pranod Sawant on October 1.
As the COVID-19 pandemic affected the world economy including India facing severe crisis on all fronts, the Government of Goa decided to prepare an economic revival plan for enhancing the economic growth and sourcing out different livelihood opportunities in the State.
Various sectors related to agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry and veterinary services, horticulture, small industries and traditional means of livelihood will be revived in all 191 Village Panchayats across Goa.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has taken the scheme seriously and is taking keen interest to make Village Panchayats self-reliant based on a study called `Economic Revival Plan for the Local Bodies in the State of Goa,’ jointly undertaken by the Directorate of Higher Education and the Goa Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (GIPARD), Ela Farm, Old Goa.
The GIPARD is preparing a detailed plan for revival of the economy of the State with emphasis on the local bodies. The government has appointed co-ordinators for every panchayat to guide the panchayat members and villagers to achieve its goal. The 220 co-ordinators called Swayampurna Mitras will interact with panchayat members and villagers and understand the potential and revive economy of these Village Panchayats unit-wise and cluster-wise.
The Swayampurna Mitras will have freedom to conduct various programmes and prepare a roadmap to achieve `Swayampurna Goem.’ They will facilitate villagers in reaping benefits of various government schemes.
There are as many as 1550 ward members who will be asked to give details of their respective wards and also focus on group discussions with village development committee, farmers, self-help groups (SGs), senior citizens, entrepreneurs, professionals, students, fishermen, etc.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant virtually discussed on the implementation of Swayampurna Goa mission at panchayat level. He interacted with the local elected representatives via google meet. Once again, he reiterated the government’s commitment to accomplish the goal of ‘Swayampurna Goa’ under Atmanirbhar Bharat programme.
During the discussions with the panchayat members, the Chief Minister advised to discuss the local issues with government officials and other stakeholders and told to prepare monthly plan and directed to work on it.