The Hindu : National : Higher allocation for flagship programmes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 07, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Higher allocation for flagship programmes

Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI: The flagship programmes of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) have seen an increased allocation in the Budget proposals for 2009-10.

The outlay for the ambitious Bharat Nirman programme of six schemes for the development of rural infrastructure is proposed to be stepped up by 45 per cent in comparison to 2008-09.

Important initiative

This programme is an important initiative for bridging the gap between the rural and urban areas and improving the quality of life of people, particularly the poor in the rural areas, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his speech in Parliament on Monday.

The allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is proposed to be increased to Rs.12,000 crore; that for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Viduytikaran Yojana (RGGVY) to Rs. 7,000 crore; and for the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) to Rs.8,800 crore.

Rural housing fund

The Minister also announced that a sum of Rs.2,000 crore is proposed to be allocated for the Rural Housing Fund in the National Housing Bank (NHB) from the shortfall in the priority sector lending of commercial banks.

This will boost the resource base of the NHB for their re-finance operations in rural housing sector. The move will broaden the pace of rural housing.

New scheme

The Minister also announced launching of a new scheme called the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana for integrated development of 1,000 villages in which the population of Scheduled Castes is above 50 per cent. There are 44,000 such villages in the country.

Pilot scheme

The scheme is being launched on a pilot basis with an allocation of Rs.100 crore. Under the scheme, each village would be able to avail gap funding of Rs.10 lakh over and above the allocations under Rural Development and poverty alleviation schemes. On successful implementation of the pilot phase, the scheme will be extended in the coming years, Mr. Mukherjee added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National