Lucknow, Nov. 11 -- Uttar Pradesh is set to make its gram panchayats more accountable and self-reliant through a data-driven framework under the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI), which will measure local progress against sustainable development goals, panchayati raj minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said. "The Index will act as a "mirror of rural progress," enabling every panchayat to assess its own performance and prepare its development index," he said. Speaking at a state-level workshop on PAI 2.0 here on Monday, Rajbhar said the government's aim was to bring urban-level amenities to villages while ensuring transparency and measurable growth at the grassroots. "Each panchayat will now have the right to develop its own index based on data and performance. This will make them more responsive and accountable," he said. During the event, gram panchayats that performed exceptionally under the PAI framework-Dhanauri, Bibi Pur, and Saroora (Lucknow), Milak Amavati (Moradabad), and Bharatol (Bareilly)were felicitated. Principal secretary Anil Kumar said PAI 2.0 was empowering panchayats to adopt transparent, data-backed planning, while director Amit Kumar Singh termed it an innovative step to foster healthy competition and balanced rural development across Uttar Pradesh....