New Delhi | India needs greater decentralisation but in many states, there is resistance to devolving powers to local councils, according to Mahendra Dev, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

At a ceremony to award the fourth Rohini Nayyar Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Rural Development, Dev said the level of decentralisation in China and the US is much higher.

"India needs greater decentralisation, which should involve giving more powers to panchayats and local bodies, along with increased use of technology in the agricultural sector to improve rural wages,... There is resistance in many states to devolving powers to local councils," he said.

Recalling the contribution of former economist and bureaucrat Rohini Nayyar, Dev said the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) through panchayats not only helped improve wages but also helped build trust in grassroots democracy.

He presented the prize to Pune's social entrepreneur Vidhya Parshuramkar for her contribution to making nutrition more accessible, sustainable and community-driven.

Parshuramkar leads Agrozee Organics and its flagship initiative, Millets Now.

An MTech in Food Technology from IIT Kharagpur, she discovered early in her journey how scientific innovation can transform traditional foods into modern nutritional solutions.

The award, instituted in 2022 in memory of Nayyar, comes with a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, a citation and a trophy.

The Rohini Nayyar Prize was instituted by the family of Nayyar, an eminent scholar-administrator who spent much of her professional life working on issues related to rural development in India.

The prize is given out annually by the Nayyar Foundation for Social and Economic Purpose.