Adachiwadi gram panchayat in Pune district’s Purandar taluka has secured first place in Maharashtra under the Chief Minister’s Samruddha Panchayat Raj Abhiyan, while the Pune Zilla Parishad was ranked second among district councils. Adachiwadi will receive a prize of Rs 5 crore, according to a report by Sakal – Pune.
The awards were presented in Nashik on Sunday by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Pune Zilla Parishad vice-president Vivek Walase Patil, chief executive officer Gajanan Patil, additional chief executive officer Chandrakant Waghmare, standing committee chairman Amol Nalawade and deputy chief executive officer Bhushan Joshi accepted the second-place award on behalf of the district council.
Nashik Zilla Parishad secured first place in the state-level ranking, while Sangli Zilla Parishad was placed third. The rankings were based on work carried out under the campaign across areas including financial strengthening of gram panchayats, improvement of basic village facilities, conservation of natural resources, women’s economic empowerment and citizen participation.
A total of 276 gram panchayats from Pune district participated in the campaign. According to the Panchayat Department, the participating gram panchayats collected approximately Rs 245 crore through house tax and water tax during the campaign period. They also raised Rs 7.97 crore through public contributions.
The campaign’s infrastructure-related work included strengthening 734 water sources and commissioning 5,224 solar pumps. The department said these measures were intended to improve water availability in rural areas, support irrigation through solar energy and conserve the environment. Participants also planted 7,12,587 trees.
The programme included upgrades to public and service facilities. Facilities were provided according to prescribed standards at 651 primary schools, 846 anganwadi centres and 154 veterinary centres, the Panchayat Department said. A further 230 gyms were established under the campaign.
The campaign also included measures aimed at improving access to welfare services. The department said efforts were made to provide certificates and Unique Disability Identity cards to persons with disabilities and to connect eligible residents with social assistance schemes. The programme recorded 60,833 women as ‘Lakhpati Didis’, according to the figures cited in the report.
The results place local revenue collection, community financing and basic-service delivery alongside water conservation and renewable-energy use as key measures in the state’s assessment of rural panchayat performance. The awards were announced as part of the Chief Minister’s Samruddha Panchayat Raj Abhiyan, with the Pune district administration’s stated focus extending across all 276 participating gram panchayats.
