Workshop On Participatory Village Development Planning In Anandapuram Mandal, Andhra Pradesh

A mandal can become SMART only when people residing in the mandal think and act smart. The concept of a SMART Mandal is thus essentially dependent on the participatory involvement of all stakeholders, in particular the primary stakeholders, that is, the people residing in the villages and wards of cities. A community comprises both adults and children and it is important to consider both their opinions in any developmental initiative.

When local communities own the processes of planning and implementation, it goes a long way in building participatory planning. Their involvement can be promoted by engaging them in the processes of visioning, planning and implementation, and towards building such engagement PRIA organized a two-day workshop on Participatory Village Development Planning on 24 and 25 June 2016 at the Mandal Praja Parishad Office of Anandapuram Mandal, Visakhapatnam District. The workshop focused on elaborating on the principles, methods and tools of participatory planning and the role of the community and community organizations to promote participatory planning.

The first day of the training was quite successful with the participation of panchayat secretaries, sarpanches, mandal parishad territorial constituency members and mandal level officials from the various departments of the 20 non-negotiable development indicators. Mr Manoj Rai from PRIA elucidated the participatory planning methods and led the participants through the entire process. The Mandal Praja Parishad President, Ms Varalakshmi, and the Mandal Parishad Development Officer, Ms Arunasri, motivated the officials to mobilize the community to ensure maximum participation in the gram sabha.

The second day saw the attendance of representatives of village level organizations, coordinators, NGO representatives and representatives from educational institutions to help build a common understanding on the importance of participatory village development planning and the roles all these actors can play in the participatory planning exercise for Anandapuram mandal. The participants were appraised of the concept of Smart Village Smart Ward, its implementation and the need for participatory planning to make Anandapuram a SMART Mandal. The sessions elaborated on the role the community and community level representatives can play in making participation a reality in the decision making process. A participatory group activity on the roles of community level organizations helped deepen the theoretical knowledge gained on participatory planning. Group members discussed and presented their possible roles in the planning process and how to enhance the participation of community members.