40th National Good Governance Webinar Spotlights Gujarat's Project PATHA for Excellence in Public Administration

In an ongoing effort to promote administrative excellence and replicate best practices across the country, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) successfully hosted the 40th National Good Governance Webinar on 25th September 2026. The high-profile virtual conference centered on the theme ‘Sustainability and Replication of the Awarded Initiatives under PMA’, putting the spotlight firmly on Project PATHA—a pioneering educational intervention from Gujarat that clinched the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2022.

The webinar series, conceptualized following a directive by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in April 2022, serves as a vital bridge for knowledge sharing among District Collectors, State Governments, line departments, and administrative training institutes. By bringing past award-winning bureaucrats and administrative leaders to a common virtual platform, the government aims to fast-track administrative innovation, ensuring that successful governance models developed in one corner of the country can be seamlessly scaled up nationwide.

Key Highlights & Major Announcements

• Event Milestone: The 40th edition of the National Good Governance Webinar was successfully conducted on 25th September 2026 by DARPG.
• Core Focus: Sustainability and replication of initiatives recognized under the Prime Minister’s Awards (PMA) for Excellence in Public Administration.
• Featured Initiative: Project PATHA, an acclaimed Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) program implemented across 994 elementary schools in Gujarat's Mehsana district.
• Massive Outreach: The virtual event witnessed active participation from over 900 locations nationwide, bringing together senior officers, District Collectors, and state administrative training faculty.
• Chairperson: The webinar proceedings were steered under the esteemed chairmanship of Shri Puneet Yadav, Additional Secretary, DARPG.

Understanding Project PATHA: Revolutionizing Foundational Learning

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) forms the bedrock of modern primary education under national directives like the National Education Policy (NEP). Recognizing critical learning gaps at the grassroots level, the Mehsana district administration in Gujarat conceptualized and executed Project PATHA across all 994 elementary schools in the district.

During the 40th webinar, Shri M. Nagarajan, State Project Director for Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Gujarat, detailed the structural framework of the initiative. He explained how an exclusive FLN Task Force was established to design customized teacher guides, structured assessment ladders, and comprehensive Gujarati and Mathematics worksheets tailored specifically to address diagnosed learning deficiencies.

To ensure absolute academic rigor, all instructional materials developed under Project PATHA underwent rigorous peer review by the Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training (GCERT). Furthermore, to democratize access and enable wide dissemination, these pedagogical resources were integrated into the national DIKSHA platform, making them readily available to educators across India.

Institutionalization and Long-Term Sustainability

A major challenge in public administration is ensuring the continuity of an innovative project after initial fanfare or changes in administrative leadership. Addressing the theme of sustainability, Shri S. K. Prajapati, Collector & District Magistrate of Mehsana, highlighted how Project PATHA was deeply institutionalized within the district’s administrative fabric.

Continuous capacity building was achieved through regular orientation programs, rigorous monitoring, systematic reviews, and active handholding of teachers and education functionaries. Crucially, Shri Prajapati noted how the initiative evolved organically from mere Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) to broader Grade-Appropriate Learning (GAL). This evolution ensured the sustained utilization of learning aids, granular school-level data analysis, and seamless integration with subsequent state-level academic enhancements.

Scaling Up: From District Success to State-Level Policy

The true measure of a successful public administration model lies in its scalability. Dr. Sharad K. Trivedi, District Primary Education Officer for Mehsana, shed light on how the model was replicated across neighboring districts through dedicated training modules and hands-on guidance.

The success of the Mehsana model did not remain confined to a single district. Its FLN Teacher Guides, worksheets, and instructional videos were widely circulated via GCERT and DIKSHA. Eventually, the core tenets of the Mehsana model were absorbed into broader state-level frameworks under Nipun Gujarat, paving the way for advanced state-level learning trackers and instructional resources such as ‘Kadam’ and ‘Pagla’.

“The National Good Governance Webinar series continues to serve as an indispensable catalyst for administrative transformation, ensuring that grassroots innovations recognized by the Prime Minister's Awards are effectively disseminated, institutionalized, and scaled up across the length and breadth of the nation.” — DARPG Governance Brief

Significance & National Impact

The institutional mechanism of the National Good Governance Webinar series represents a paradigm shift in Indian public administration. Traditionally, stellar governance initiatives remained isolated success stories limited to specific districts or states. By mandating structured virtual conferences chaired by senior policy architects like Additional Secretary Shri Puneet Yadav, the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) has institutionalized peer learning among civil servants.

With each webinar drawing roughly 1,000 officials—ranging from grassroots District Collectors and line department heads to administrative training faculty across 900+ distinct locations—the diffusion of administrative know-how happens at an unprecedented pace. Project PATHA’s journey from a localized intervention in Mehsana to a state-wide benchmark under Nipun Gujarat exemplifies how targeted administrative determination can directly impact core national development goals such as universal foundational literacy.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What was the main theme of the 40th National Good Governance Webinar?

The 40th webinar was held under the theme ‘Sustainability and Replication of the Awarded Initiatives under PMA’ (Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration).

What is Project PATHA?

Project PATHA is an award-winning Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) initiative implemented across all 994 elementary schools in Mehsana district, Gujarat, designed to bridge learning gaps through customized teacher guides, worksheets, and digital integration.

Which ministry organizes the National Good Governance Webinar series?

The webinar series is organized by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.

How does the webinar series help civil servants and administrators?

It provides a national virtual platform for past PM’s Award winners to share their field experiences, implementation strategies, and sustainability models with District Collectors, state officials, and training institutes to encourage replication.

Official Source & Verification

This article is grounded on the official press release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Government of India (Release ID: 2315038, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions). Access the official document: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2315038&lang=1.