Patna, May 10: Chief minister Nitish Kumar’s effort for rural development and push for 50 per cent reservation in the panchayat system has earned him yet another accolade with former Union minister of panchayati raj Mani Shankar Aiyar praising him.

In the city for a round table discussion on “Impact of political reservation for women and local governance and rural service provision” organised by National Council of Applied Economic Research, International Development Research Centre and Centre for Federal Studies, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, Aiyar said: “Even though chief minister Nitish Kumar is not present here, I still want this message to reach him. We are all very proud of him.”

He added: “He has shown the country and the world what can be done with the fundamental institution of the country, that is panchayati raj.”

Aiyar was addressing a meet of dignitaries that included Bina Aggrawal, director, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi, economist D.B. Gupta, Amita Singh, a teacher at the Centre for Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Vijoy Prakash, principal secretary, state department of planning and development.

The former Union minister said: “While Rajiv Gandhi used to say that politicians should have faith in the citizens of the country, Nitish is way ahead of him. He has shown his belief in Indian women by empowering them with 50 per cent reservation at the panchayat level.”

He added that as a result of Nitish’s efforts, eight other states have also enforced the reservation and the Union government is also planning to introduce similar reservation all over the country within the next five years.

“Women’s empowerment will be a distant dream unless women come out from remote villages and take part in administration and governance,” said Aiyar.

He added: “At present, there are 2.5 lakh local bodies in the country that have a total of 32 lakh representatives. Of that, 12 lakh are women. Around 86,000 hold high posts at the panchayat level. This is a really good figure and tells us how the panchayati system is a success.

“There may be some hiccups at the beginning but we should not let the negative developments hamper our hopes,” added the former minister.

Governor Devanand Konwar inaugurated the meet. He said: “Until and unless we make the villages shine, India won’t shine.”

Rajya Sabha member N.K. Singh, who chaired the inaugural session of the meet, said: “For strengthening the system, we need to look after what more can be done with the panchayati raj system. For this, there is a need for decentralisation of local bodies.”