Modi
launches village adoption scheme for MPs
Narendra Modi launches “Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana” at
Vigyan Bhawan, in New Delhi
Prime Minister Modi launched scheme to develop villages
today
The scheme encourages MPs from both Houses to identify and
develop one village from their constituencies
Taking forward his announcement during his address to the
nation on August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled a
blueprint for the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on Jayaprakash Narayan’s
birth anniversary.
The scheme encourages Members of Parliament from both Houses
to identify and develop one village from their constituency as a model village
by 2016, and two more by 2019, covering over 2,500 villages of the 6 lakh
villages country-wide.
“This is not a rupiya-paisa yojana but a demand-driven,
people’s participatory scheme. There are 800 parliamentarians and in three
years, 2,500-odd villages could get covered. If States were to initiate their
own similar schemes with MLAs, 6,000 to 7,000 villages could get covered. One
good village can affect an entire area, and a viral effect could begin,” Mr.
Modi said while unveiling SAGY for which no new funds have been allocated.
MPLAD funds to benefit model villages
The 65-page outline for the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana,
released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday here, in the presence of
Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari, requires MPs to identify one village
with a population of 3,000-5,000 in the plains and 1,000-3,000 in the hills
within a month for convergence of existing schemes for socio-economic
development of the area.
MPs can choose any village except their own or their
spouse’s. There is no other criterion.
MPs are expected to facilitate a village development plan,
motivate villagers to take up activities and use the Rs.5-crore MPLAD fund to
fill gaps for funds besides mobilising “additional resources especially from
Corporate Social Responsibility” in sewage and water supply schemes.
The activities and outcomes will cover broad development
indicators such as health, nutrition and education through organising
immunization drives, improving mid-day meal schemes, improving Aadhaar
enrolment, setting up “smart schools” with IT-enabled classrooms and
e-libraries, improving panchayat infrastructure under schemes such as MNREGA
and Backward Regions Grants Fund.
A series of measures speak of better implementation of
existing and new schemes and laws including RTI Act, National Food Security
Act, National Rural Livelihood Mission, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, while
at the same time emphasising “activities to improve hygienic behaviour” by
encouraging bathing among villagers, use of toilets and exercising for thirty
minutes every day. It envisions social development in villages through
identifying a village day, a village song, and focusing on alternative methods
of dispute resolution.
There will be real-time web-based monitoring and a first
review after five months by an independent agency. District Collectors will
carry out a baseline surveys and then chair monthly review meetings to monitor
progress. At the State-level, Chief Secretaries will lead an empowered
committee on the same and the Minister for Rural Development and Secretary,
Rural Development, will chair two national-level committees to track the
scheme.
“This is not a small risk that I have taken by suggesting
this. Instead of maximising the use of MPLAD funds over the largest possible
area, this will instead require focusing the funds in a village. MPs will be
able to identify the shortcomings in implementation of schemes,” said Mr. Modi.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Gadkari said: “SAGY aims at
socio-economic transformation, not just making government funds and facilities
available to villages. This will be a movement from swaraj to suraaj.” The aim
would be to inculcate a sense of pride, volunteerism, and self-reliance in
villages, he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment