Improve agriculture to tackle agrigarian crisis

New Delhi, Oct 16: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called for improving agricultural practices to effectively deal with agrigarian crisis being faced in many parts of the country and said bridging the developmental gap between urban and rural areas is a priority for the UPA government.

Inaugurating the National Conference of Project Directors of District Rural Development Authorities here, Dr Singh said that till the focus was on the economics of agriculutre, the country couldnot move ahead.

Expressing concern over the incidents of farmers suicides in various parts of the country, the Prime Minister said that the government schemes alone couldnot alleviate their sufferings. It could only provide social safety net while to prevent them conditions in which agriculture is practiced needed to be changed, he said. Dr Singh urged DRDAs to focus on the agriculture by drawing up district-wise plan on it.

''Our next big growth story could be rural India. There is a conjecture of circumstances, including the high growth rate of our economy, which holds great potential for rural India. We need relevant policy intervention to sustain this process. This is a national priority for us. We must bridge the developmental gap between urban and rural areas. We need to collectively ensure that rural India participates in the new growth process. In this national endeavour you have a vital and positive role to play,'' Dr Singh told Project Directors of DRDAs.

Terming the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act as a ''programme for societal transformation', Dr Singh lamented the delays by some states in putting effective administrative arrangements in place resulting in slow implementation of NREGA.

Nearly 88 lakh people are working in over 242,000 development works under the programme which provide effective safety net to the poorest.

However, the Prime Minister stressed the need for effective watchdogs from society like Panchyats and civil society organisation. He urged NGOs and citizens groups to use instruments like Right to Information Act to increase accountability and transparency under NREGA.

He asked the project directors to go beyond the programmes being directly implemented by the ministry and map human resources and skills in each district. District level Rural Employment Reports capturing the wage employment created under NREGA, Swaranjayuanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna and other development interventions in the district on an annual basis should be developed as a public document.

Asserting that his government was committed to the objective of ''inclusive growth,'' the Prime Minister said that programmes have been refined to achieve this goal. He said Bharat Nirman programme with adequate resources is aimed to bridge the gaps in rural infrastructure while Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will meet the knowledge divide.

These together with Mid day Meal scheme, ICDS programme and the National Rural Health Mission bring nearly Rs 100 crore per annum to many backward districts. Moreover, the Backward Districts Fund cover 250 districts, he pointed out and said that these would help in realising the goal of effective decentralised planning, he said.

''Untied Funds''at the district level would be made available for meeting critical gaps identified at the district level in major national development programmes and build capacities of local and district level institutions, the Prime Minister informed and stressed the need for strengthening planning system at the district level by committing greater professional resources.

Pointing out that seven states--Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh--account for over 90 per cent backlog in rural roads, he asked the state governments for time-bound action to meet the targets not only in the road sector but also in rural housing and drinking water provision.

He emphasised that the standards of health couldnot improve till investments are made in sanitation both in terms of appropriate strategies and mroe financial resources. Dr Singh lauded Rural Development Minister for championing sanitation programme due to which it has gained momentum. He also suggested rural sanitation programme to make use of ASHAs to be appointed in every village under the National Rural Health Mission as a change agent for creating hygiene consciousness.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said that to tackle the dual scourage of unemployment and poverty the country needs to spend Rs 31000 crore of which Rs 200,000 crore should be used in the eleventh five year plan. He said that without increasing microfinancing rural poverty could not be removed. He said that Self Help Groups could play a crucial role in skill development, training and marketing of products so that every poor person could earn about Rs 3000 to Rs5000 per month. He said that 60 crore poor people are getting employment under wage employment programmes like NREGA.

The Minister said that DRDAs are working on the ground level to provide rural housing, water conservation, sanitation facilities and drinking water. Effective functioning of well equipped DRDAs would go a long way in eradicating poverty, he added.

UNI