The Telangana Government has prepared plans to launch a Rs. 450-crore World Bank-funded rural inclusive project that will focus on improving livelihoods in rural areas.
The IT Minister, K.T. Rama Rao, said the Bank has agreed to fund the project that would be run independently by seven directors from across the country. “Preliminary talks with the World Bank officials are over and they have agreed to support the project that will bring in fresh ideas and fresh approach,” Mr. Rao said.
Named Telangana Rural Inclusive Growth Project (TRIGP), it will cover 150 mandals in the first phase and will be expanded later to other mandals. “A Centre of Excellence will be created and best practices will be adopted with government’s role being minimal. Empowerment programmes will be designed specifically for those areas rather than a generic approach,” Mr. Rao said.
The project would be on the lines of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) and its best practices would be absorbed to give a new shape to the schemes and make them more effective. The independent directors will be responsible for designing the schemes and the idea behind picking them up from various parts of the country is to bring in new thoughts and new framework for execution.