Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today called for devolving 3Fs –funds, Functions and Functionaries — to empower rural local bodies for their holistic growth and to achieve national development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Inaugurating a National Stakeholders Conference on ‘Localization of Sustainable Development Goals’ organized by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, he urged the Union Government and various States to facilitate the devolution of the 3Fs from Zilla Parishads to Panchayats.

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The rural local bodies have to be revitalized and rejuvenated by strengthening and empowering them, he added.

He said there was an increase in fund allocation to the rural local bodies from Rs 100 per capita per annum in the 10th Finance Commission to Rs 674 per capita per annum in the 15th Finance Commission.

These funds should directly go into the rural bodies’ accounts and there should be no diversion, dilution and deviation. Similarly, every grant meant for people should directly go to the beneficiaries.

Naidu said that given that nearly 70 per cent of India is rural India (68.84 per cent as per the 2011 census), attainment of Sustainable Development Goals at the national level will require actions at the grassroots of villages — that is at the Panchayat level.

Observing that the biggest goal is to make the country poverty-free, he said the other equally important missions include providing education to all boys and girls, ensuring delivery of critical services like safe drinking water and creating adequate employment opportunities.

The Vice President was happy that women constitute 46 percent of the 31.65 lakh elected representatives of the rural local bodies in the country.

He said that adequate representation should be given to them in legislatures and other law-making bodies. “Empowering women is empowering the society”, he added.

Calling for people’s participation in all the schemes and programmes at the grass-root level, the Vice President stressed the need for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to ensure comprehensive development of the Panchayats and achieve various targets.

Panchayats, Naidu said, have a pivotal role to play in integrated rural development by focusing on the 17 SDGs which are subsumed under nine themes to ensure poverty-free, clean, healthy, child-friendly, and socially secured well-governed villages.

Referring to the critical role of Gram Sabhas in enabling direct participation of the people in local governance, Naidu said the legal framework on the number of Gram Sabhas to be held in a year is necessary and needs to be formulated.

Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil, and Panchayati Raj Secretary Sunil Kumar attended the conference.