Backward region fund to cover 200 districts

The Planning Commission has identified around 200 districts to be covered under the Backward Region Grand Fund (BRGF). It has prepared blueprint for the project which will be taken to the Prime Minister soon.

The fund, announced in the Budget 2004-05, was to be operationalised at the beginning of the current fiscal, but was delayed because of problems over the number of districts to be included.

The revamped plan includes 147 districts covered under the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana (which was to be merged with the BRGF) and 150 districts covered under the food-for"�work programme.

"Estimates are that each district may get Rs 250-300 crore. However, capacity-building, to ensure that they can absorb the amount, has been ignored," said a Commission official.

The Commission has, therefore, proposed that out of their respective BRDFs, districts should use around Rs 25 crore for capacity building.

Backward districts are expected to get Rs 100 crore each from the National Rural Employment Guarantee programme and Rs 40 crore each from the Bharat Nirman programme. In addition, National Rural Health Mission and programmes on rural sanitation, will result in additional funds flowing to these districts.

"Since Rs 25 crore is not significant enough to make a difference on its own, the money may be used for capacity building, institutional reform and gap filling," said an official.

The Commission has proposed that states wishing to avail funds under the scheme will have to sign an MoU with the Centre, committing to undertake governance reforms, ensuring security of tenure to officials and devolution of powers to panchayats.

The ambitious Rs 25,000-crore programme, spread over five years, is to enable states to take up social and physical infrastructure programmes in the poorest and most backward districts.

The creation of the fund was in line with the National Common Minimum Programme. The latter envisaged setting up of a Backward States Grant Commission to be used for creating productive assets in such states.

It also envisaged that all non-statutory resource transfers from the Centre would be weighed in favour of poor and backward states.