Caste-based politics detrimental to rural development: Raj Min

Lamenting the prevalence of caste-based politics at the ground level, Rajasthan Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Gulab Chand Kataria today said it had prevented development in villages as merit and talent was often ignored while choosing leaders.
"If the people in villages at the helm of affairs come on the basis of talents, knowledge and merit, and not on the basis of the cast equations, there is nothing which can prevent the villages from turning into model villages.
"But unfortunately all these important attributes are overshadowed by the deep rooted cast based politics prevalent at the lower level, which does nothing but undermine the very element of vision and development," Kataria said, adding,that it brings undeserving and incompetent candidates to the power.

Kataria, who was on a day's visit here, held a review meeting of officials overseeing the implementation of various schemes, including the Grameen Swachhata Mission. He also attended the inaugural function of an industrial fair.
Kataria said the countrymen during the parliamentary elections had acted beyond the cast lines and voted enmass in support of Narendra Modi.
"But it seems to be setting in again," he said.

Talking about the initiatives to speed up the rural development, Kataria said that by mid-October, information regarding budget received by villages and how it is spent will be available online.
"We had started this work in June and by mid-October, we would be able to reach this stage," he said.

He further said that there was no dearth of budget for rural development in the state.
"With Rs 15,000 crore per year for rural development with the cumulative growth in it taken into account, there would be approximately 1 lakh crore for the purpose in five years which meant Rs. 1-1.5 crore per village. This, if spent properly would translate into enough developmental works in the villages," he said.