Assam: Panchayat Presidents Undergo 5-Day Governance Training in Guwahati

Assam Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass on Tuesday flagged off a dedicated training programme for elected Gaon Panchayat Presidents, aiming to enhance their capacity in local governance and rural development.

The inaugural session took place at the Golap Borbora State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) in Guwahati.

A total of 75 elected Panchayat Presidents from Sonitpur district participated on the first day of the programme, which is structured as an intensive five-day module. The initiative is designed to equip grassroots leaders with essential knowledge of administrative processes and development schemes.

Speaking at the event, Dass highlighted the scale of the training drive, stating, “Assam has 2,192 Gaon Panchayat Presidents, 363 Anchalik Panchayat heads, 397 Zila Parishad members, and over 21,000 ward members. We aim to reach out to all of them through these district-level training camps.”

He noted that the programme would be conducted in every district of the state and will continue until December 8. “With today’s launch for Sonitpur district, we have taken the first step in what will be a sustained effort to empower Panchayati Raj representatives,” the minister said.

Senior officials from the Panchayat and Rural Development Department, including Secretary Munindra Sharma and Additional Commissioner Jayanta Goswami, were also present at the launch, reiterating the department’s commitment to capacity building at the grassroots level.

The training initiative is part of a broader government push to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across Assam by improving the understanding of governance, policy implementation, and community engagement among elected village leaders.

In a separate programme held in Guwahati earlier in the day, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated ‘Bodoland Speaks: From Vision to Action’, an initiative of the Bodoland Territorial Council under the Bodoland Happiness Mission.

Commending the BTC’s efforts, the Chief Minister said, “The Bodoland Happiness Mission is a visionary step towards sustaining the peace and progress achieved in the region over the past five years. It reflects the positive transformation taking place in the BTR.”

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