Monitoring mechanism in PMO to oversee flagship programmes
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Jul 08, 2009, 17:31 IST
Government today set up a monitoring mechanism in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to oversee various prestigious flagship programmes and ensure prompt output and transparency in its functioning.
"The Delivery Monitoring Unit will be an oversight mechanism for select flagship programmes with a view to improving monitoring arrangements, delivery of output and transparency," Principal Secretary to PM T K A Nair said here.
Key projects like National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, National Rural Health Mission, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Bharat Nirman, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Rajiv Awas Yojana, Multi-Sectoral District Plans for Minority Concentration Districts among others would come under close scrutiny of the Unit.
Progress in strengthening of Public Accountability like Right to Information, Public Data Policy, Annual Reports on five identified topics, setting up Independent Evaluation Office), Prime Ministers Reconstruction Plan for Jammu and Kashmir would also be monitored closely.
Other areas listed for scrutiny are Innovation Universities-Decade of Innovation, Development of Land Ports, Setting up National Council for Human Resources in Health, Setting up National Council for Higher Education and Assam Gas Cracker Project.
In his Budget-2008 speech a Central Monitoring Agency was proposed to be set up by Mr.P.Chidambaram when he was Finanace Minister to monitor effectiveness of all centrally sponsored programmes and schemes. I had written at least 8 to 10 letters to him on different dates to disclose whether the said Agency had been set up or not. It is a matter of great pleasure that that a Monitorary mechanism has been set up to evaluate all the flagship programmes. I further suggest to make this SET UP more effective every MP belonging to Congress party (at least) should be made a honorary member to report to this committee whether all the programmes are being implemented in their at least two villages effectively or not. The two villages should be the one in which MP was born and the other in which his or her mother was born.