A well-stocked library, a strong waste administration (SWM) unit, a completely outfitted fitness center, a four-room visitor home, an impartial rubbish assortment pickup, and a 25kW rooftop photo voltaic plant—these are among the many many options which have propelled gram panchayat Thanadhar, often known as Thanedhar, within the Narkanda block of Himachal Pradeh’s Shimla district to the highest tier ‘A’ class within the Panchayat Development Index (PAI) 2025 by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, launched on April 9.
“Thanadhar has had a progressive mindset since pre-Independence days. Literacy is common throughout our six villages. Nonetheless, a lot of the trendy infrastructure—together with the well being club-cum-gym, library, SWM plant, and visitor home—was developed during the last 4 years, beginning 2021–22. Although authorities schemes and the Panchayati Raj division performed a job, the core initiative got here from native villagers,” mentioned Harsh Shoral, a resident of Thanadhar and a practising advocate on the Himachal Pradesh Excessive Courtroom.
The panchayat includes six villages—Lunga, Uchla Nagkelo, Saroga, Pamlai, Barubagh, and Nagkelo—with a inhabitants of two,034 (1,033 males and 1,001 ladies) and 1,462 registered voters.
Surinder Thakur from village Pamlai highlighted the panchayat’s imaginative and prescient of self-reliance. “The fitness center was constructed to maintain our youth away from medicine. The concept of organising a strong waste administration plant emerged from the necessity to deal with waste inside the village in a scientific and sustainable method. All main selections, together with the current set up of the 25kW rooftop photo voltaic plant to energy all streetlights, had been taken with consensus from the group.”
Thanadhar’s achievements have additionally been recognised on the nationwide degree. In December 2024, it bagged the third prize of Rs 1 crore below the Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar for the monetary yr 2023–24. It additionally secured the second prize of Rs 75 lakh within the Socially Secured Village class.
“All of the award cash was credited on to the gram panchayat’s account,” mentioned Sandeep Shoral, the panchayat pradhan. “We constructed the fitness center in 2022, and through 2022–23, we constructed the visitor home and established the strong waste administration unit, for which we spent Rs 28.20 lakh. We additionally bought our pickup car for door-to-door rubbish assortment. The choice to put in the photo voltaic plant was taken collectively after successful the awards, and we’ve spent roughly Rs 45 lakh on the challenge to this point.”
Sandeep Shoral, an orchardist by occupation and a BCom graduate, was elected pradhan for the primary time in 2021. A five-member council administers Thanadhar Panchayat and has obtained important group participation in all growth tasks. One other spotlight is that Thanadhar is the one gram panchayat within the area comprising Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana to be declared an A-category panchayat in PAI 2025.
Story continues under this advert
The village holds historic significance as properly. Samuel Evan Stokes, an American missionary who later adopted the identify Satyanand Stokes, planted the primary American apple saplings in Thanadhar within the early 1900s. His orchard, Barubagh, established in 1916, sparked the apple revolution in Himachal Pradesh. The panchayat additionally has a devoted web site showcasing all its amenities and growth milestones.
“We now have a protracted legacy of accomplishment, and each success has additional strengthened our drive for self-sufficiency,” added Sandeep. “Being declared the highest panchayat not simply in Himachal however throughout neighbouring states is a proud second for all of us.”
The efficiency of the gram panchayats was valued based mostly on 9 themes of Native Sustainable Improvement Targets (LSDGs). These are Poverty Free and Enhanced Livelihoods; Wholesome Panchayats; Youngster Pleasant Panchayats; Water Adequate Panchayats; Clear and Inexperienced Panchayats; Self-Adequate Infrastructure; Socially Simply and Socially Secured Panchayat; Panchayat with Good Governance and Ladies-Pleasant Panchayat. The efficiency was categorised into 5 classes: A+ (Achiever), A (Entrance Runner), B (Performer), C (Aspirant) and D (Newbie).
The highest 10 gram panchayats, as per the PAI, had been Thanadhar (Block Narkanda in Shimla) with an general rating 77.63 adopted by Uhal (Block Bamson in Hamirpur) with 70.94 adopted by Decrease Rewalsar (Block: Balh in Mandi) with 69.75 marks adopted by Kirti (Block Narkanda in Shimla) with 69.64 marks adopted by Ghangot-Kalan (Block Bijhri, in Hamirpur) with 69.63 marks adopted by Jiyunta (Block Bhattiyat in Chamba) with 69.61 marks adopted by Narsin (Block Bamson in Hamirpur) with 69.46 adopted Lagdhar (Block Mandi Sadar in Mandi) with 69.41 adopted by Sarahkar (Block Bamson in Hamirpur) with 69.38 and Surajpur of block Indora in district Kangra with 69.22 rating.
