“Make it large” appears to be the mantra of the Union minister of rural development Jairam Ramesh in his new stint. The minister is not only looking at scaling up scope and coverage of flagship schemes under his ministry, but also exploring ways for funding from international lending agencies in a big way.
In a bid to scale up coverage of flagship schemes, Mr Ramesh is pushing for an early loan of $1.5 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) along with its convergence with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in a bid to give thrust on rural connectivity in a big way.
The rural development ministry is also inking a pact with the World Bank for $1 billion for the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) on Monday. The NRLM, which was launched by the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Banswara in June, is being implemented in a way to create self employment in rural areas through self help groups.
“Mr Ramesh has asked officials to hasten up $1.5 billion loan, which had been pending with the World Bank for a while. He has also asked for convergence of PMGSY and MGNREGA. The intention is that PMGSY work could also be executed under the flagship MGNREGA to give a big push to rural connectivity,” said a senior official. The ministry has pegged the total cost to complete the PMGSY at `1.50 lakh crores over a period of time.
A big push in the flagship PMGSY is likely to be given in the Naxal-affected areas.