RCE Srinagar - 2021

‘Helping the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) Integrate UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their Development Plans’
CSV
Basic Information
Title of project : 
‘Helping the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) Integrate UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their Development Plans’
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Srinagar
Contributing organization(s) : 
1. RCE Srinagar
2. National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Government of India (NIRDPR)
3. Directorate of Panchayati Raj, Government of Uttar Pradesh
4. Deen Dayal Upadhyay State Institute of Rural Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh (DDUSIRD)
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Dr. Abdhesh Kumar Gangwar
Organizational Affiliation: 
RCE Srinagar
E-mail: 
abdhesh.gangwar@gmail.com
Name: 
Dr. Pratyusna Patnaik
Organizational Affiliation: 
Associate Professor, NIRDPR
E-mail: 
pratyusna.nird@gov.in
Name: 
Dr. Mohit Yadav
Organizational Affiliation: 
Faculty Assistant, DDUSIRD
E-mail: 
mohit270@gmail.com
Format of project: 
Manuscript and PowerPoint
Language of project: 
English
Date of submission:
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Web link: 
http://www.rce-network.org; http://nirdpr.org.in; http://www.sirdup.in; http://panchayatiraj.up.nic.in
Additional resources: 
Uttar Pradesh ‘Sustainable Development Goals - Vision 2030’
SDG India Index & Dashboard 2020-21-Performance of States and UTs
UNDP’s ‘Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021’
‘Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India using a Common Framework’
Does this project link to any education and/or sustainable development policy or policies?: 
Yes
The project links to advancing policy on integrating SDGs into development plans of the villages, blocks and the districts; building capacity of the elected members of the PRIs, and other stakeholders engaging youth, promoting local actions
At what level is the policy operating?: 
National
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Asia-Pacific
Country: 
India
Location(s): 
State of Uttar Pradesh (UP) consisting of 58,218 Gram Panchayats, 915 Urban Bodies, 822 Development Blocks spread in 75 Districts. Current population of UP is 204.2 million, population density of 828 people per sq km, is highest in India.
Address of focal point institution for project: 
RCE Srinagar, House 037, Stadium Colony-A, Baramulla, Jammu & Kashmir, India 193 101
Phones: +91-8840045154, +91-9419069589, +91-706037700
Focal Point: A-459, Indira Nagar, Lucknow 226 016 India
Tele Fax: +91-522-2355350, Mobile: +91-9415104125

National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR), Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana-500 030 | Phone: 91-40-24008526 | Fax: 91-40-24016500

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Rajya Gramya Vikas Sansthan Bakshi Ka Talab, Lucknow – 226202 Phone: +91-8765957401 | Email: ddusird-up@nic.in

Directorate of Panchayati Raj, Uttar Pradesh, Plot No-6, Lohiya Bhawan, Sector-E Aliganj, Lucknow 226024 | Telephone: +91-522-2322924
Ecosystem(s):
Agricultural, Dryland, Forest, Fresh water, Grassland, Mountain, Urban/Peri-urban, Wetlands
Target Audience:
Community, Youth (Informal)
Elected PRI members
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
Uttar Pradesh (UP) has highest population, 204.2 million, which is about one fifth of India’s total population; it has the highest population density, 828 people per sq km. The state is faced with acute poverty, hunger, malnutrition, anemia, high infant mortality, gender inequality, violence against women, female feticide, illiteracy, poor sanitation, health, hygiene, all kinds of pollution, poor air quality. State is highly prone to disasters, both natural and manmade and suffers huge loss every year because of disasters. UP possesses a large proportion of India’s vulnerable population. Eight districts of UP are ‘aspirational districts’ fairing lowest in development index.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
Having high population UP dominates Indian politics and decision making. UP achieving SDGs and other global targets will help India achieve the targets. However, UP ranks very low and its progress in most SDGs remains poor. Illiterate, unhealthy, unskilled, insensitive and enthusiastic population under poor work culture pose serious hindrances in achieving SDGs. Extreme weather events, floods, drought, heat waves, cold waves, fire pose serious threats to food, nutrition and health security. About 70% population lives in rural area, engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry which are susceptible to climate change and thus making rural population insecure.
Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Period: 
March, 2021
Rationale: 
RCE Srinagar has been closely working with the local governments and other needed stakeholders in advancing policy, capacity building and skill development, mobilizing youth, generating action at community level promoting sustainable development, progress and prosperity and through this helping country achieve global targets.
RCE Srinagar’s projects awarded ‘Outstanding Flagship Projects’ by UNU-IAS during 2016 “Climate Smart and Disaster Resilient Communities in Indian Himalayan Region”; in 2019 “Mainstreaming DRR Making India Climate Smart, Disaster Resilient and Sustainable”; and in 2020 “Empowering Community for Combating COVID-19 Pandemic”. Moving forward, RCE Srinagar got engaged in empowering villages and urban local bodies, governance system at grassroots level, towards making their development plans participatory, inclusive and integrating SDGs in them. UP held its Panchayat elections recently, May 2021. It is most appropriate and need of the hour to build capacity of elected PRI members in making their development plans smart and integrating SDGs in them. RCE Srinagar has been advocating this since more than past five years. Working with local governments, RCE Srinagar has got many concepts (like climate resilience, DRR) mainstreamed in government development plans and now joined integration of SDGs into the ‘Development Plans’ of Gram, Block and District Panchayats.
Objectives: 
1. Orient elected PRI members in managing their panchayats smartly, making their development plans participatory, inclusive, reaching out to last mile, the marginalized people.
2. Apprise PRI members of various schemes of Central and State governments that they can avail to benefit the development of their panchayats.
3. Motivate PRI members in making their panchayats self-financed, generating their own income and reducing their dependence on government money.
4. Integrate SDGs and other global targets into their development plans, involve all concerned departments and agencies realizing convergence while implementing their development plans utilizing available resources most efficiently.

Activities and/or practices employed: 
 NIRDPR in collaboration with DDU SIRD trained over 150 Master Trainers in two batches of 75 each, first batch from 16-19 March 2021 and the second batch from 22-25 March 2021.
 Directorate of Panchayati Raj also trained some MTs having their own resource pool.
 Directorate of Panchayati Raj later oriented 303 MTs from 24-29 June, one-day training done in different batches. MTs were oriented with the functioning the PRIs and were provided the training materials and modules.
 MTs were allocated to different divisions (UP has 18 divisions). Office of the Deputy Directors of all the 18 Divisions with support of MTs conducted one-day on line orientation of the Gram Pradhans in batches of 500 each between 15-28 July 2021.
 Further, one-day contact trainings being held at Block level, currently in progress. More capacity building events are in store.
Size of academic audience: 
58,218 Gram Pradhans (village level PRI); 822 Block Pramukhs (Development Block level PRI); 75 Zila Pramukhs (District level PRI); Corporators and Ward Members from 915 Urban Local Bodies; in total catering to 204.2 million current total population of UP.
Results: 
The activities helped in overhauling and strengthening governance system at the community level, bottom-up approach. It built the capacity of elected PRI members and gave them skills for managing their constituency and serving them best brining in sustainable development, generating local action, making efficient use of the resources available, making convergence, bringing all the stakeholders together, making development inclusive, making PRIs self-sufficient. The members elected have their term for 5 years. These trainings in the beginning of their term will prove very useful helping them serve their constituency better for the remaining term. SDGs and other global targets will get integrated in the development plans of the PRIs and we are sure this will help achieve all the targets in a successful manner making development sustainable, people-oriented, inclusive and driven by the community itself.
Lessons learned: 
For large scale, long-lasting results and sustainability of the interventions undertaken it is important for RCEs to liaison and partner with the government and get things mainstreamed. Government agencies appreciate receiving support, ideas, pilot projects that RCE community offers. To get RCE community recognized, establishing our credentials and putting RCEs’ ideas into local action towards achieving SDGs and other global targets making sustainable development a reality RCEs need to work closely with local governments.
Key messages: 
Sustainable development can become a reality if community is empowered, development plans emerge, made and implemented by the community. We need to encourage local skills, successful community initiatives, the change agents and nurture them. Pandemic could never stop us, pandemic challenges we converted into opportunities upskilling ourselves and our communities.
Relationship to other RCE activities: 
RCE Srinagar works very closely with other likeminded RCEs in India, Asia-Pacific Region and global. We have forged several collaborative projects with other RCEs and make constant interaction and exchange of information, knowledge and experience with partners and other RCEs. We encourage other RCEs to do programmes that are need of the hour extending required support to them. RCEs Jammu, Kuching, Dobong-Gu, Tongyeong, East Kalimantan, Kyrgyzstan, Greater Dhaka are some names to mention. COVID pandemic has given us an opportunity for making liaison with other RCEs. We conducted a series of 7 successful webinars during pandemic time mobilizing the RCE community both at Asia-Pacific regional as well as global level. All the webinars were well attended, in some attendance reaching over 350. The webinars generated huge local action with the RCEs as well as their communities. Besides the RCE community, RCE Srinagar has worked with local governments and other stakeholders doing policy advocacy, capacity building, improving learning environment, mobilizing youth and generating local action. Many activities advocated by RCE Srinagar got mainstreamed and scaled up in government programmes. Pandemic challenges we could convert into opportunities.
Funding: 
The funding came from the Governments of India and Uttar Pradesh. The cost incurred by RCE Srinagar was also paid by them. RCE Srinagar just gave its academic and technical inputs.

Pictures:

File Name Caption for picture Photo Credit
Image icon Photo 1. SIRD Certificate TISPRI MT.jpg (1.56 MB) Certificate awarded to AKG by DDU SIRD RCE Srinagar
Image icon Photo 2. NIRD Certificate Integrating SDGs in GPDP.jpg (143.97 KB) Certificate awarded to AKG by NIRDPR RCE Srinagar
Image icon Photo 4. On line training by NIRDPR in progress.jpg (26.69 KB) On line training by NIRDPR in progress PRI Training Group
Image icon Photo 5. Gram Pradhans attending online training.jpg (98.7 KB) Gram Pradhans following COVID Appropriate Behaviour attending on line training PRI Training Group
References and reference materials: 
PDF icon Photo 3. Office Order on ToT New Revised Letter No. 214.pdf
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Direct
SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 
Direct
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Direct
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Direct
SDG 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 
Direct
SDG 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 
Direct
SDG 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 
Indirect
SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all 
Direct
SDG 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation 
Direct
SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries 
Direct
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Direct
SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 
Direct
SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
Direct
SDG 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss 
Direct
SDG 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 
Direct
SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development 
Direct
Theme
Disaster Risk Reduction 
Direct
Traditional Knowledge  
Direct
Agriculture 
Direct
Arts 
Direct
Curriculum Development 
Indirect
Ecotourism 
Indirect
Forests/Trees 
Direct
Plants & Animals 
Direct
Waste 
Direct
ESD for 2030-Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Developing capacities of educators and trainers 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Mobilizing youth 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
state: 
Direct
Update: 
No