The University of Hyderabad (UoH) has entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD&PR) on April 3, 2017 at the University Campus in the presence of Prof. Appa Rao Podile, Vice Chancellor, Shri P. Sardar Singh, Registrar, Prof. S. Jeelani, Director, Centre for Distance and Virtual Learning, UoH and Dr. W R Reddy, IAS, Director General, Prof. V. Madhava Rao, Adviser & Head, Centre for Geoinformatics Application in Rural Development, Dr. K. Jayalakshmi, Professor & Head, Centre for Panchayati Raj, Dr. Pratyusna Patnaik, Assistant Professor and Dr. A. Praveen Kumar, Assistant Registrar from NIRD&PR.
The MoU has been signed by Shri P. Sardar Singh, Registrar on behalf of UoH and Dr. A. Praveen Kumar, Assistant Registrar on behalf of NIRD&PR. Through this MoU partnership for offering Certificate, Diploma, Advance Diploma and other Master Training Programmes for the benefit of Elected Representatives, in-service personnel of Panchayati Raj Institutions and other allied departments working at Village/Block/Mandal/ District/ State Level and educated youth through Distance Mode/online is establish. The purpose of the collaboration is also to organize seminars, workshops, collaborate in research, skill development and other human development initiatives. This partnership is also to collaborate for taking up training and educational activities to engage with rural communities for their up-liftment and sustainable development. The MoU is for a period of Five years from the date of signing. The MoU enables the National Human Resources to effectively participate in Nation Building activities.
The Centre for Post Graduate Studies & Distance Education of NIRD&PR and Centre for Distance and Virtual Learning (CDVL) UoH will coordinate the programmes to be conducted by NIRD&PR on the endeavor of transforming India through strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions.
The Self Learning Material for the Distance Mode Courses will be prepared and disseminated by NIRD & PR. The UoH will be involved in the preparation of content and other related academic matters. The contact Classes and Semester End Examinations will be organized at UoH, NIRD & PR and at other link institutes of NIRD & PR i.e., SIRDs or any other Partnering Institutes identified spread over the country.
The MoU will benefit more than 3 million elected representatives and about 3 million functionaries in 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, 5.8 lakh villages, 6000 intermediate tiers (block/taluk/samithi) and more than 550 Zilla Panchayats. The training of 6 million PRI elected representatives and functionaries will be on all aspects related to rural development, basic services, and functioning of local governments. This is to “reach the unreached” and disseminate the information on Local government, schematic programmes, participatory planning process, financial management etc and provide a platform for networking and share Pan – India knowledge across the country on all rural development and related aspects. The capacity building will be done through e-modules, animated films on various modules, documentation and videos of success stories.
This comprehensive and innovative approach will enable systematic and continuous building the capacity of the PRI functionaries in a time bound manner to realise the dream of Bapuji’s “Gram Swaraj”.