Bihar prepares master plan for rural development

The Bihar government is preparing a master plan for rural development to change the face of villages with community participation, Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra said here Saturday.

"It is a special initiative by the rural development department for inclusive development of rural areas including villages across the state," Mishra said.

He said till date the master plan was in the news for urban development.

"The main thrust of the department's master plan is rural development, each of the 8,392 gram panchayats in Bihar would have its own plan to participate, prepare development schemes, monitor implementation," he said.

He said the idea of having a master plan for every panchayat was conceived by former chief minister Nitish Kumar to fulfil the vision of Mahatma Gandhi.

Mishra told IANS that the master plan for rural development 'Hamara Gaon Hamara Vikash' (our village, our development) will be a vision document for the next five years.

"We have been working to turn the dream of rural development into a reality with the master plan for it," he said.

Mishra said the exercise for the rural master plan started in August this year.

The socio-economic mapping of each ward of the panchayat is underway to understand the need of the locality for development.

"We will formally launch the draft master plan for rural development in November and the entire exercise related to it would be completed by Feb 28, 2015," the minister said.

Last month, the department organised a two-day workshop on the theme of intensive participative planning exercise for preparing the master plan for rural development. Hundreds of block development officers and others attended it.

He said a pilot project of a master plan has already been prepared for Gonaha block in West Champaran district.

According to official data, nearly two-thirds of Bihar's population of 10.5 crore, who are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, live in villages.