Rural development: Govt relying on Central schemes

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 20

Riding on central schemes, the state government today announced to strengthen infrastructure in rural areas.

An amount of Rs 686.83 crore has been earmarked for rural development and panchayats for 2017-18. The government announced that it was committed to all-round development of rural habitats through the provisioning of basic amenities and creation of rmployment opportunities.

However, instead of initiating its own schemes, the budget announcements in rural development mainly finds mention of central schemes. The state government announced successful implementation of MGNREGA in all districts and an amount of Rs 313.23 crore has been provided for 2017-18 under MGNREGA.

An amount of Rs 208.33 crore has been earmarked for the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana. A budgetary allocation of Rs 19.75 crore has been provided for 2017-18 for the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Urban Mission. Some of the other allocations in rural development for 2017-18 are Rs 9.19 crore for the construction of cremation grounds, Rs 28.15 crore for toilets, Rs 10.84 crore for basic amenities/purchase of land for burial ground/graveyard for Christian and Muslim communities.