STATES MUST
FOLLOW GUIDELINES ON RURAL
DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES: SHANTA KUMAR
The Rural Development
Minister Shri Shanta Kumar has said, that the States will have
to strictly follow the guidelines issued on various schemes and
cannot change the name of the schemes. He said if the name of
the scheme is changed or the guidelines are not followed, it will
be the responsibility of the concerned state to mobilize resources
for the same. The Minister said, the Ministry is aware that some
states have diverted funds granted to them under the Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for providing roads to unconnected villages
by using the same for upgrading their own existing roads. He said
such things will not be allowed to continue. This was disclosed
by Shri Shanta Kumar while making his concluding remarks at the
two-day meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached
to his Ministry, here today.
He said, the Rural
Development Ministry is seriously considering ways to recover
the money given to the Non Government Organisations, which have
been blacklisted for non-utilization of the funds. The issue of
recovering money about 1,800 blacklisted NGOs has been taken up
with the Law Ministry. . The Minister emphasized that public money
should be either utilized for the purpose for which it is given
or refunded to the government, failing which criminal liability
should be fixed.
Shri Shanta Kumar
assured the Members that arrangements are being made for increasing
the participation of the Members of Parliament in the implementation
of the Ministry’s schemes and programmes at the local level. The
Minister pointed out that the Ministry is considering changes
in the funding pattern of some of the schemes where states have
to contribute part of the cost. He hinted that some such schemes
may be made participatory by inviting people to contribute and
thus reducing the State’s share. He said, the biggest challenge
before the Ministry is efficient, effective and honest implementation
of the schemes. He said, while the success of some of the schemes
in some states cannot be lost sight of, the progress in other
states is not encouraging. He said the suggestion of the Members
of Parliament during the deliberations will help in making the
schemes more effective.
Participating in
the deliberations Members suggested that the Centre must ensure
proper utilization of funds, for which it may create a special
mechanism to check/monitor the utilization of funds. They said,
while the schemes are good, the situation on the ground has not
undergone desirable change. On the PMGSY, there were suggestions
to reduce the breadth of the roads, particularly where laying
of such roads involved acquisition of land. There were suggestions
to earmark part of the funds for upgradation work. On the Panchayati
Raj Institutions, members felt that states should devolve powers
in favour of PRIs. Panchyats should have the power to raise resources
and interference in the functioning of elected women representatives
from their male family members should be stopped. While expressing
satisfaction on the success of computerization of land records
in selected states, members suggested that where state governments
are unable to implement the scheme, the centre should take up
the work or engage some independent agency for the purpose.
Members of Parliament
who participated in the two day deliberations are Shri Chinmayanand
Swami, Shri P.S. Gadhavi, Shri Chintaman Wanage, Shri G. Mallikarrjunappa,
Shri Adhi Sankar, Shri T.M. Selvaganpathi, Shri Raghuraj Singh
Shakya, Shri Shivaji Mane, Shri Madhab Rajbangshi, Shri A.F. Golam
Osmani, Shri Bheru Lal Meena, Shri Bhal Chandra Yadav, Shri P.D.
Elangovan, Smt. Kumudini Patnaik, Shri E. Ponnuswamy, Smt. Rama
Pilot, Shri Dalit Ezhimalai, Shri Sunder Lal Patwa, Shri P.R.
Kyndiah, Shri Shyam Lal , Shri Kailash Joshi and Shri A. Sudershan,
Shri Rao Man Singh and Shri Faquir Chand Mullana.
