New Delhi: 

The National Panchayati Raj Day is being celebrated as a national programme this year. It will see the participation of six Union ministries — Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The government aims for a ‘Whole-of-Government’ approach and is therefore ensuring participation of multiple ministries in the Panchayati Raj Day programmes this year.

The PM will also lay foundation stones for key infrastructure projects, totalling up to Rs 13,500 crore from Madhubani. Some of the projects which will be launched include, LPG bottling plants, electrification projects, housing schemes, railway infrastructure, and road development. Apart from this money will also be disbursed to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin and Urban) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY–NRLM. The ‘Grammeen Bharat’ programme of the government is set to benefit the rural areas of Bihar. The state will see enhanced connectivity, services and economic opportunity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Bihar’s Madhubani on Thursday. In what is the PM’s first public appearance following the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, he will be addressing the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and gram sabhas across the country. He will also launch several projects worth Rs 13,500 crore, said the Panchayati Raj Ministry.

The event marks the 32 years of the 73rd Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 1992, which is celebrated as National Panchayati Raj Day. This amendment gave constitutional status to rural local self governments. The function is being held in Lohna Uttar Gram panchayat in Jhanjharpur block, Madhubani district of Bihar.

Apart from addressing the public on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day, the PM will also flag off Amrit Bharat Express and Namo Bharat Rapid Rail in Bihar. He is set to address gram sabhas and Panchayati Raj Institution members across the country and award the Special Category National Panchayat Awards 2025 on Thursday.

Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’, and Bihar Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha will be joining the PM for the programme in Madhubani. On the occasion, the PM is set to give out Special Category National Panchayat Awards 2025, which include the Climate Action Special Panchayat Award (CASPA), Atma Nirbhar Panchayat Special Award (ANPSA) and Panchayat Kshamta Nirman Sarvottam Sansthan Puraskar (PKNSSP).

Awardees are from across the country and hail from Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Assam. The Panchayati Raj Ministry in a statement said that these awards are aimed at recognising gram panchayats and institutions that have demonstrated exemplary performance in areas such as climate resilience, fiscal self-reliance and capacity building.

PM Modi was also scheduled to visit Kanpur, but this programme was cancelled in wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.

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