The Hindu Business Line : Norms for providing urban facilities to rural areas finalised

IN order to give content and effect to the provision of urban amenities to rural areas as articulated by the President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, early last year and which found its echo in the Independence Day address of the Prime Minister, the Government recently finalised detailed guidelines to the scheme of Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA).

The guidelines devised by the Economic Advisor in the Prime Minister's Office, Dr S. Narayan, and the Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Mr M. Shankar, towards the end of January 2004 would ensure that the PURA kick-starts the economic growth and development in rural areas by providing urban amenities in selected rural clusters around selected towns that would set off further economic activities to generate ripple effect in the surrounding areas, official sources told Business Line here.

The sources said that PURA is based on the concept that villages around a town have an in-built potential to foster fast and if infrastructural facilities are extended to these villages, they not only develop themselves but become growth centres to the adjacent areas too. The idea is to primarily build on the extant schemes of the Central and State governments and meet infrastructural gaps, if any, through funding from PURA.

Stating that a detailed project report (DPR) would be prepared for each cluster which would zero in on various infrastructural facilities to be created in the respective cluster, the sources said the facilities could range from provision of power supply, water supply, road and transportation facilities, telecom, Internet and IT services to upgrading existing schools to the next higher level, health facilities and marketing facilities for agricultural produce. For instance, the sources said, though programmes for expansion of secondary and technical education in the rural areas have been under implementation, encouragement to private sector to either set up new technical training institutes or upgrade the existing IITs/polytechnics that are located in the identified clusters would be encouraged.

The sources said 5,000 rural clusters each consisting of 10 to 15 villages would be covered under PURA in five years. Each year about 1,000 clusters are to be covered with each cluster likely to be developed in 2 to 3 years. In this, the most backward towns (the population size between 30,000 to one lakh, in plain areas and 20,000 to 50,000 in hilly areas) with low number of electricity connections, common literacy rates, low percentage of household availing piped water have been given preference. In hilly areas, where there are no towns (as in some north-eastern States), the district headquarter towns would be taken up for identifying rural clusters. In special category States and States with incidence of poverty above national average, two clusters of 10-15 villages would be identified around each town. In the States where the incidence of poverty is below national average, one cluster would be taken up around each town. On this basis, 826 towns have been identified around which rural clusters are to be taken up, the sources added.

On funding pattern, the financing of infrastructural gaps, identified and approved in the DPR would be done through the scheme of PURA and would be 100 per cent financed by the Union Government.

The District Collectors would be the Nodal Officers for implementation of PURA at the district level. They would also coordinate with the Central and the State governments concerned and a Project Implementation Committee headed by them would be set up at the district level to work in close concert with the Zilla Panchyat, the sources added.

Since PURA requires policy streamlining, fine-tuning and coordination among various Ministries at the Central Government level, a Committee of Secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary would be responsible for policy formulation, monitoring and review of PURA which would meet once a quarter to take stock of the progress of implementation , the sources said. Similarly, at the State level, a State level PURA Committee by the Chief Secretary and Secretary (Rural Development) as the Member Secretary with other concerned Secretaries as members would be set up, the sources said, adding that the Ministry of Rural Development would carry out evaluations of all the schemes of PURA.