2009 - 10 to be the year of "Gram Sabha "

Panchayati Raj in India today completed its Golden Jubilee today. 50 years ago on 2nd October, 1959, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the 1st Prime Minister of India laid the foundations of Panchayati Raj at Naguar in Rajasthan. To mark the occasion a National Convention was organized at Vigyan Bhawan here today. The occasion was a witness to the two major announcements – the renaming of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) after the Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and observing the year 2009-10 as the “Year of Gram Sabha” by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in presence of the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi , Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister ,Dr.C.P. Joshi and a large number of Gram Pradhans, Sarpanchs and village representatives from all over the country.