UN, WB to fund Panchayati Raj schemes: Aiyar

New Delhi, Feb 6: The World Bank and UNDP have come forward to fund schemes designed for Panchayats, Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said today.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was expected to make a core commitment of 20 million dollars for the capacity building and training programme of his Ministry, Mr Aiyar told reporters at the Seventh Social Editors' Conference here.

This commitment could subsequently be leveraged to get an additional funding of 200 million dollars through bilateral arragements, Mr Aiyar said.

Further, his Ministry had approached the World Bank to fund an incentive scheme for getting the Panchayats empowered and make their functioning transparent and accountable.

''The World Bank has shown keen interest'' in the proposal, he said.

Mr Aiyar said he had also sought a substantial hike in the Budget allocations and the response of Finance Minister P Chidambaram would be known on February 28.

On the move to set up Nyaya Panchayats, Mr Aiyar said a proposal had already been sent to the Law Ministry which was considering it.

Once approved, his Ministry would circulate a Cabinet note before putting it up for Cabinet approval.

Nyaya Panchayats, which were expected to take justice to the doorstep of villagers, were expected to become a reality ''as soon as possible,'' he said, refusing to set any deadline.

The Panchayati Raj Ministry would soon launch the Mahila Shakti Abhiyan in Rajasthan and Haryana and the Yuva Shakti Abhiyan in Punjab and Manipur. The Panchayat Yuva Khel Abhiyan would also be implemented in collaboration with the Sports Ministry.

Dismissing as ''misconceived'' the notion that Panchayats and State Legislatures were pitted against each other resulting in a conflict of interest between the two bodies, the Minister said that under Constitutional provisions the village bodies would implement only those schemes entrusted to them by the state assemblies.

The Panchayati Raj Ministry was also in the process of setting up rural business hubs.

Kerala and Karnataka were singled out by the Minister for special praise as the two states had allocated 40 per cent of their development funds for Panchayats, which had been fully entrusted with running primary schools.

UNI