Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
After a gap of three years, Chintan Shibir, a state-level administrative brain -storming session started by Narendra Modi, will resume mid-February next year. The first Chintan Shibir of the Anandiben Patel government, however, will see a bottom-to-top approach as the agenda and ideas to be discussed will be filtered from taluka- and district-level Chintan Shibirs that were structured mainly around her slogan of “Gatisheel Gujarat”, an administrative agenda set with specific target by the Patel government.
The initiative, started by Modi, as chief minister in 2003, was a retreat for bureaucrats and politicians to interact. It had become the cradle of initiatives like the Kanya Kelavani campaign and Shala Praveshotsav, Gunotsav — the annual evaluation of schools.
The GAD maintains that this is for the first time that the government has been going for bottom-up approach. “The agenda of the state-level Chintan Shibir will be the extract of all taluka-level and district-level shibirs done on feedback from local residents,” an official added. While taluka-level Chintan Shibirs have been conducted, the district-level sessions are still on and likely to be concluded before January.
This is for the first time that at both the taluka- and district-level, the participants — collectors, district development officers, taluka development officers, talaties — on the first day of two-day shibirs first held meetings with village panchayat representatives and local residents to know and understand local problems. In another first, the teams have also visited local schools, hospitals, temples, other organisations in the area to get the ground-level feel before they set for brainstorming on the next day.
Though each and every taluka and district have their different sets of issues, at every level the government had made it mandatory to take stock of pressing issues like malnutrition, school dropout ratio after class IX, toilets and cleanliness in schools, Swachh Abhiyan, on starting smart schools in villages, status of drip irrigation and strengthening of women-run milk cooperatives.
Besides, all the talukas and districts were asked to prepare implementation plans for ongoing programmes like Kanya Kelavani, mid-day meal, Chiranjivi Yojana among others.
With an aim to make governance less formal, bring officials closer, ease hierarchy and for the flow of free ideas in natural set up while doing recreational activities like yoga , the first Chintan Shibir by the Modi government was held at Kevadia Colony, in the backdrop of Sardar Sarovar in 2003. Also called the annual thought camp, where Modi’s most popular ideas have believed to be appeared, was held regularly till 2011.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
