By IANS
New Delhi : The government will hold a convention of panchayat heads Dec 22 here and a rally the next day to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the constitutional amendments that brought the current local government system into being.
The government will pay Rs.718.3 million (plus 15 percent) for holding the convention and the rally, the cabinet decided at its meeting here Friday morning.
The money will come out of the Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) of the ministry of panchayati raj and will be recouped through a supplementary grant, an official spokesperson said.
He said the convention and the rally would also help create awareness among the elected representatives of panchayati raj institutions of their rights and duties to function as officials of local self-government bodies.
Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, has been keen on a largescale celebration of the panchayati raj anniversary.
The spokesperson said a charter on panchayati raj would be prepared, discussed, amended and adopted at the convention Dec 22. After the convention and the rally, the charter would be presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and to Sonia Gandhi, who are both slated to address the rally.