Canada to learn from India's Panchayat Raj system

NEW DELHI: Aiming to learn from Indian process of power decentralisation, local governance and democratic reforms, a Canadian government delegation will meet Union Panchayati Raj Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo here tomorrow.

The delegation will be headed by Canadian Minister of State for Democratic Reforms Tim Uppal.

"The delegation includes Members of Parliament (MPs) from Canada. They will interact with Panchayti Raj Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo to discuss Indian system of local and decentralised governance," a Ministry official said.

Besides meeting the Panchayti Raj Minister, the Canadian delegation will also hold interactions with several Union Ministers here to understand their style of functioning.

"India democratic set up is very well respected all over the world. Canada, while trying to improve upon its existing set up, is trying to learn from our experience in various sectors," the officials said.

The delegation will meet Union Ministers in Parliamentary Affairs, Overseas Affairs and Sports.

It will also hold a meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner V C Sampath to understand the process of carrying out free and fair elections for national and legislative assemblies and share their experience of democratic reforms, the officials said.