No political colour should be attached to BRLF: Shah

With controversy surrounding Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation (BRLF), its president Mihir Shah today said that no political colour should be attached to the autonomous institution which was set up to push development in the tribal belts.
His remarks come close on the heels of the foundation, set up by the previous UPA regime, coming under the scanner of the Narendra Modi government.
"We have not received any formal communication from the government," Shah told PTI.
"The point is that the central government has given us a one-shot funding. Now we have to raise the fund. The MoU with the ministry is very clear that this is to be an independent autonomous institution," he said, adding that it is supposed to be civil society action through which development can be brought in the tribal belts.

Shah, who was a Planning Commission member during UPA's tenure, noted that the nine states are members of the BRLF General Body and most of them are governed by non-Congress parties.
"It has nine state governments on board. It has also people from the corporate sector besides representatives of civil society and the central government," he said.

Shah said that chief secretaries of states including Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, are members of the BRLF General Body.
No political colour should be attached to the autonomous foundation, Shah said when asked about presence of members of the erstwhile National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi in the BRLF General Body.

He said BRLF is a "unique institution represented by members from state governments, central government, industry and civil society".
Soon after BRLF was created in 2013 by a Cabinet decision, the Rural Development Ministry under Jairam Ramesh had signed a memorandum with it for disbursement of funds to NGOs working in the tribal belts, particularly central and eastern parts of the country.
"We are constantly dealing with the Ministry of Rural Development and state governments," Shah said.