Budget to give Rs 1 lakh-cr push to rural development

UPAs aam admi programmes may cost the government a whopping Rs 1,00,000 crore in fiscal 2010-11.

UPAs aam admi programmes may cost the government a whopping Rs 1,00,000 crore in fiscal 2010-11. According to demands placed to the ministry of finance for budgetary allocations for the next fiscal,the ministry of rural development has said that the money would be required for three major schemes including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP),Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY).

Of the total amount,66 per cent is slated to go to the NREGP with roughly Rs 66,000 crore required to run the scheme and meet the cost of Rs 100 per day commitment of wages made by the finance minister in the Union Budget 2009-2010. The ministry would require Rs 46,000 crore alone to meet the wage component of the programme in the next fiscal covering all 620 districts of the country. The balance would go towards procuring materials for the works and schemes.

In the previous years wage rate used to vary from Rs 60 to over Rs 100 depending on the state. Now,the Centre would have to provide Rs 100 and wherever it exceeds that the state government would have to chip in. Consequently,the fund requirement for the coming fiscal has gone up by 69 per cent.

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The ministry has also asked for Rs 27,000 crore for rural roads development programme (PMGSY) in the coming fiscal compared to Rs 18,000 crore this year. The reason for this is that the absorption capacity of states has gone up. A large number of detailed project reports have already been cleared by the government for the next year and states would need funds to implement these, secretary rural development Dr Rita Sharma told The Indian Express.

The third component would go towards making below poverty line individuals self dependent by way of sponsoring skill development training they need to undergo in partnership with private sector firms and non-government organizations (NGOs). About Rs 10,500 crore has been sought under this head compared to Rs 2,350 crore sought last year to expand the scope of the programme.

Among other things,rural development programmes will now be linked to the operation of Rajiv Gram Sewa Kendra that will set up all across the country to provide a roofed office to panchayats that still meet under trees. These will also serve as hubs for information,communication and technology (ICT) to train unemployed unskilled youth as well information dissemination and access centres for the village.

As far as NREGP is concerned,it would bring under its ambit not only the scheduled tribes and castes but also the lands of small and marginal farmers to be worked upon for the creation of productive assets for the rural hinterland.