Madhubani | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said Panchayati Raj Institutions have been strengthened in the last decade, and more than 30,000 new Panchayat Bhawans have been built across the country.

Speaking at an event to mark National Panchayati Raj Day here, Modi said Mahatma Gandhi's idea that India cannot be developed without empowering its villages is the concept behind the Panchayati Raj system.

"Bihar is the land from where Bapu gave the mantra of Satyagrah. He believed that as long as villages are not empowered, India will not develop," Modi said.

"This is the thought behind Panchayati Raj. Many steps have been taken to strengthen Panchayats, and technology has also been used... More than 2 lakh gram panchayats have been linked with the internet, and more than 5.5 lakh common service centres have been established in villages," he said.

He said more than 30,000 new Panchayat buildings have also been constructed.

He lauded Bihar for being the first state to provide 50 per cent reservation to women in Panchayats. "This is real social justice, democracy," Modi said.

He said the digitalisation of land records in villages will help in reducing conflicts over land ownership.

The National Panchayati Raj Day (NPRD) marks 32 years of the 73rd Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 1992, which gave constitutional status to panchayats as institutions of rural local self-government.