Panel To Finalise Drf Disbursal Today

The high-powered committee on the development reserve facility (DRF) is expected to finalise the modalities for disbursal of the Rs 2,500 crore fund tomorrow.

At its previous meeting, the committee had approved a Rs 800 crore package for Bihar and Rs 200 crore for the Koraput-Bulangir-Kalahandi districts of Orissa.

The remaining Rs 1,500 crore is expected to be given as reform support to states and to be allocated to 100 backward districts.

Twenty-five districts will be covered in the first phase and the remaining in the second. Eighty backward districts have already been identified, with the remaining 20 to be picked from among the special category states.

In the first two years, a relatively larger portion of the funds will be given as reform support to states.

The modalities of allocation to districts would be thrashed out at the meeting tomorrow, officials said.

Subsequently, the Planning Commission will hold meetings with states, including Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, to discuss the specific reforms to be linked to fund disbursal.

In the 2001-02 Budget, the government had allocated Rs 2,500 crore for reforms in sectors that were constraining growth and development. The idea was to put in place programmes and policies to remove barriers to growth and accelerate the development process.

The guidelines for disbursal of the fund were originally to be finalised by May in order to ensure that states would be able to utilise them within the fiscal year.

However, with the matter extending to August, the states have already lost out on the first two quarters of the current year.