The Ministry of Panchayati Raj will be celebrating the Iconic Week from 11^th April to 17^th April, 2022 to commemorate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) as a Jan-Utsav in the spirit of Jan-Bhagidari. To celebrate this monumental occasion in the right spirit following “whole-of-society” and “whole-of-government” approach, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has conceptualized a series of Thematic Conferences for the Iconic Week  on the theme “Panchayaton ke Navnirman ka Sankalpotsav” (पंचायतों के नवनिर्माण का संकल्पोत्सव) to showcase the convergence of the views, ideas, opinions, preparedness, technological interventions, best practices and cutting-edge insights of all stake-holders towards Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Panchayati Raj Institutions.

The week-long commemorative events will commence with organizing National Stakeholders Conference on Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals on 11^th April 2022 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. This occasion assumes greater significance as the Vice President of India will be the Chief Guest and address the National Stakeholders Conference. The Vice President will also release Logo of Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals, Compendium of Joint Advisories to the States on Operationalisation of Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals and Compendium of Thematic Presentations for use by Gram Panchayats during the inaugural session. Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste will grace the occasion with their august presence. State Panchayati Raj Ministers, Senior Officers of Panchayati Raj Department of States/UTs, NIRD&PR, SIRD&PRs and elected representatives and functionaries of Panchayats have also been invited to participate in the National Stakeholders Conference. Details of seven-day thematic conferences are as under:

During the Iconic Week National Conferences will be organised in an interactive and vibrant manner. Being responsible for strengthening the pillars of grassroots democracy and grassroots governance in rural areas across the country to increase the effectiveness and enhance the performance of Panchayats at all levels, Ministry of Panchayati Raj endeavours to celebrate the Iconic Week in such a fashion that it should have national impact and long-term implication as the Conferences will prove to be a useful platform for interaction, sharing and exchange of knowledge and ideas among all stakeholders towards Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Panchayati Raj Institutions, and the actions the PRIs can take to achieve these SDGs, as well as the support base and resources that can be mobilized. National Conferences organized during the Iconic Week (11^th – 17^th April, 2022) will witness rich deliberations and concrete outputs in support of accelerating momentum towards SDGs, and will turn out to be an enriching experience for all the participants congregated from all parts of the country.

Iconic Week celebrations will help build a movement that will further motivate all stakeholders to accelerate the pace of attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help our country meet its SDG commitments (in rural India through Panchayats) on time. The Iconic Week programmes will highlight the prominence of the role of Panchayats in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and create necessary awareness for developing community awareness and involvement. The presence of representatives of Panchayats from across the country in the seven-day interactive Conferences will be an apt occasion and platform for exchange of ideas and experiences. The seven-day events have been designed in such a manner that it will be highly beneficial to Panchayats and other key stakeholders.

A stronger whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach has been followed to ensure an enhanced level of engagement and meaningful participation of different stakeholders such as Panchayati Raj Institutions, line Ministries/ Departments, State Governments/ UT Administrations, civil society, communities, IITs/IIMs academia, NGOs/CBOs, international agencies etc. Various initiatives/ activities/ preparedness of the Ministry/ line Ministries and other stakeholders towards attaining the SDGs will be presented and deliberated upon with focus on the Nine Themes identified for Gram Panchayats to aim to become: (i) Poverty free and enhanced livelihoods village (Theme 1), (ii) Healthy village (Theme 2), (iii) Child friendly village (Theme 3), (iv) Water sufficient village (Theme 4), (v) Clean and Green village (Theme 5), (vi) Self-sufficient infrastructure in village (Theme 6), (vii) Socially secured village (Theme 7), (viii) Village with Good Governance (Theme 8) and (ix) Engendered Development in village (Theme 9).

Views and ideas of different stakeholders will be exchanged and documented for future roadmap and necessary action. These Conferences will serve as an august platform as the Union Ministers, Panchayati Raj Ministers and other stakeholders will be sharing their views, ideas, and preparedness of the Ministries/ States towards this endeavour. All key stakeholders will also be present on this occasion to reaffirm their commitment to attain the 2030 Agenda for SDGs. The main thrust of the event is in-depth deliberations on holistic and convergence approach of Ministries with focus on targeted delivery of services and attainment of well-defined goals in rural areas with active participation of people and Panchayati Raj Institutions.

In addition to national-level function, States/UTs have been requested to advise Gram Panchayats to hold Panchayat Meetings during the Iconic Week (11^th – 17^th April, 2022) wherein focus would be on deliberations on the aforesaid nine SDG themes and adopting any one or more of these themes for focused attention in 2022–2023. States/UTs have been requested to conduct functions at State, District and Gram Panchayat level during the Iconic Week (11^th – 17^th April, 2022) to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in a befitting manner.

Background:

Since commencement of the official journey of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on 12^th March, 2021 which started a 75-week countdown to 75^th Anniversary of India’s Independence, Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been making sincere efforts to create awareness among rural masses about Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav through taking onboard Panchayati Raj Departments of States/UTs to ensure active involvement of Panchayati Raj Institutions.

A dedicated dashboard [https://IndiaAt75.nic.in/] has been created to display the progress with regard to events/ activities undertaken at Panchayat level as part of celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and uploading of relevant materials (photos, videos, news-clippings etc.) on the said India@75 dashboard. With active participation of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in undertaking different activities as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it has been possible to reach out to rural masses and sensitize them about the importance and objectives of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

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APS/JK