Urbanization

Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF) was launched by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh at Barpeta in Assam on 19th February 2006. This programme signifies
a new approach to addressing persistent regional imbalances in development. The
programme has subsumed the Rashtriya Sama Vikas Yojana (RSVY), a scheme earlier
being administered by the Planning Commission.
This Programme covers 250 districts in 27 States, of which 232 districts fall under the
purview of Part IX and Part IX-A of the Constitution dealing with the Panchayats and the
Municipalities respectively. The remaining 18 districts are covered by other local
government structures, such as Autonomous District and Regional Councils under the
Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and state specific arrangements as in the case of
Nagaland and the hill areas of Manipur.
Approach:
The BRGF programme represents a major shift in approach from top-down plans to
participative plans prepared from the grassroots level upwards. Panchayats at the Village,
Intermediate and District levels and Municipalities, constituted under Parts IX and IX-A
of the Constitution, are positioned as institutions for planning and implementing the
programme. The conviction that drives this new locally driven approach is that
grassroots level democratic institutions know best the dimensions of poverty in their
areas and are, therefore, best placed to undertake individually small, but overall,
significant local interventions to sustainably tackle local poverty alleviation.
Proposed Budget Allocation:
In 2009-10, the budget allocation for BRGF as Rs. 4670 crore has been proposed.
Panchayats as base Institutions:
In order to make optimal use of Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF), the
Ministry of Panchayati Raj on February 2, 2010 designates Panchayats as base
institutions for planning and implementation at the Village, Intermediate and District
levels and the Municipalities. Exception to this is provided to States that are not covered
by Part IX of the Constitution. The Panchayats at various tiers can plan and implement
projects within their allocation and as per the functions assigned to them through the
State laws.
Under the BRGF, the participatory plans prepared by each Panchayat and Municipality
will be consolidated into the district plan by the District Planning Committee. In planning
and implementation of the BRGF, active participation by each Panchayat and
Municipality will be there so as to ensure that all the financial resources available in the
district are used optimally without delay, diversion, duplication or leakage.
Flagships
Delivery Monitoring Unit (DMU) was set up in Prime Ministers Office in September
2009. The main objective is to observe and monitor the progress of the flagship
programmes of the government as well as its initiatives and iconic projects including
include National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), National Rural Health
Mission (NRHM, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),Bharat Nirman Jawaharlal Nehru

National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Rajiv Awas Yojana Multi-Sectoral District
Plans for Minority Concentration Districts, National Mission on Female Literacy,
Strengthening of Public Accountability, Right to information and Public data policy.
Besides, progress of Prime Ministers Reconstruction Plan for Jammu and Kashmir,
Infrastructure Development in North-Eastern Region, Dedicated Railway Freight
Corridors, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, innovation Universities, Development of
Land Port, Setting up National Council for Human Resources in Health and National
Council for Higher Education and Assam Gas Cracker Project is also reviwed.
The process includes scrutinizing the output data from concerned ministries and make
sure that the programmes are delivered in an efficient, faster way. DMU also helps to
solve the issues via periodic reviews, which are reported to the PM on a quarterly-basis.
Over the years the District Rural Development Agencies have emerged as the principal
organs at the district level to oversing the implementation of different poverty alleviation
programmes.
Since inception, the administrative costs of the DRDAs were met by setting apart a
certain percentage of the allocation for each Programme.
Of late, while the number of programmes increased, not all Programmes provided for the
administrative cost of the DRDAs. Keeping in view the need for an effective agency at
the district level to co-ordinate the poverty alleviation efforts, a new Centrally Sponsored
Scheme for strengthening the DRDAs was introduced w.e.f. 1st April, 1999.
The primary objective of the DRDA Administration Scheme is to professionalise the
DRDAs so that they are able to effectively manage the poverty alleviation programmes of
the Ministry of Rural Development and interact purposively with other agencies. The
DRDAs are expected to (effectively) coordinate with the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
DRDAs are to maintain their separate identity under the guidelines even though the
Chairman of the Zilla Parishad is also the Chairman of the governing body of DRDA.
The objective of the scheme of DRDA Administration is to strengthen the DRDAs and to
make them more professional and effective. It is visualized as a specialized agency
capable of managing anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry on the one hand and
effectively relate these to the overall efforts of poverty eradication in the districts on the
other. This scheme is funded on a 75:25 basis by the Centre and State Governments and
on
90:10 basis in respect of Centre and North-Eastern States for meeting administrative
costs. In the case of UTs the Centre provides 100% funds for the scheme.
1. Desert Development Program (DDP) and Integrated Wastelands Development Program
(IWDP) are being implemented for the development of wastelands / degraded lands.
2. DPAP was launched in 1973-74 to tackle the special problems faced by those areas
constantly affected by drought conditions.
3. DDP was launched in 1977-78 to mitigate the adverse effects of desertification. IWDP
has been under implementation since 1989-90. These programs were implemented on a
sectoral basis till 1994-95.

4. Since April 1995, these programs are being implemented on watershed basis. For the
project DPAP, total number of the projects sanctioned were 2,535, with funds released by
the Centre at Rs 295 crore.
5. Under DDP, 1,562 projects have been sanctioned with funds of amount Rs.215 crore;
and under IWDP, 190 projects with funding of Rs. 306 crore, were sanctioned. The cost
norms for all the three schemes have been revised to Rs.6,000 per hectare.
6. Under DPAP and DDP, the cost is shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio
of 75:25, while in the case of IWDP, Rs.5,500 is borne by the Central Government and
Rs.500 is shared by the States.
e-PRI is a a unique scheme of Panchayati Raj Ministry that proposes to provide a whole
range of IT related services to Panchayati Raj Institutions as part of the Mission Mode
Projects (MMPs) under NeGP (National E Governance programme).
It has been launched by Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India on January 28,
2010. It would provide the services like Decentralised Database and Planning, PRI
Budgeting and Accounting, Implementation and monitoring of Central and State sector
schemes, Citizen-centric Services, Unique codes to Panchayats and Individuals, Essential
GIS-based applications, On-line Self-learning medium for elected representatives
and official functionaries. E PRI also envisages providing computing facilities along with
connectivity to all the 2.36 lakh panchayats at a tentative cost of Rs 4,500 crore over a
three-year period. Panchayats being the basic unit for planning and implementation of
Cenral/States programmes and schemes, e-PRI would be the umbrella MMP where
Information and Service Needs Assessment, Business Process Engineering and Detailed
Budget Reports for 27 States were ready for access.
Objective of e-PRI MMP
Enabling Panchayats to better deliver its mandated services to the Citizens through IT.
Enabling PRIs to use IT as a tool for transparency, disclosure of services to Citizens and
social audit
Improving internal management processes and decision making in Panchayats
Enabling PRIs to use IT for electronic tagging and tracking of funds transferred to
Panchayats, including rapid bank transfer of funds, tracking fund transfers to,
expenditures of the Panchayats
E-Gram Vishwa Gram was launched by the government of Gujarat in February 2009.
This e-village project is being implemented by the Department of Panchayat and Rural
Development under the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project of the National e-Governance
Plan (NeGP).
The project opens up new horizons for the three-tier Panchayati-Raj Institutions. The
scheme envisages the functioning in the state by enabling CommunicationBroadband
Connectivity.
Till now, as many as 13,695 villages have been given broadband connectivity under eVishwagram scheme. ( statement of State Panchayat Minister Narottam Patel)
Update: The state government is planning to issue e-ration cards to all citizens and
provide services such as telemedicine and online police complaints in the coming days.

For this purpose village computer entrepreneurs are being appointed to provide computer
services in rural areas under the e-Vishwagram scheme.
The Government has approved the establishment of the Independent Evaluation Office
(IEO) with basic objective to assess the outcomes and impact of the major flagship
programmes of the Government.
Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) will undertake impartial and objective
assessment of the various public programmes and improve the effectiveness of public
interventions.
The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) will be an independent office attached to the
Planning Commission.
Its Governing Board will be chaired by the Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission.
The IEO will be an independent office attached to the Planning Commission under a
Governing Board chaired by the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission. It will be
funded by the Planning Commission and will have, as its head, a full-time Director
General (DG) in the rank and status of Member, Planning Commission. It will have full
functional autonomy to discharge its functions. The IEO will also advise the Planning
Commission and the implementing agencies in developing appropriate management
systems consistent with the evaluation objectives.