By IANS,
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was Sunday told by an official that the current Five Year Plan was not panchayat-friendly and demanded that the next plan should give a central role to the panchayati raj institutions in the implementation of rural schemes.
A.N.P Sinha, secretary, ministry of panchayati raj, who was delivering the vote of thanks at the Panchayat Diwas function here, used the ocassion to demand a greater thurst on the role of panchayti raj institutions which are institutionalised in a three-tier set up at the village, intermediate and district levels.
Sinha urged the prime minister to give a central role to panchayats in implementing rural schemes.
The prime minister heads the Planning Commission, which is in the process of finalising an approach paper to the Twelfth Five Year Plan that begins in April 2012.
Sinha also urged United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi to focus on panchayati raj in the National Advisory Council (NAC).
The NAC is headed by Gandhi and makes policy recommendations to the government on issues taken up by it.
“Panchayati raj should be the next agenda of NAC,” Sinha said. His remarks evoked a nodding smile from Gandhi.
The conference was addressed by both the prime minister and Gandhi apart from Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.