PM to launch backward area devpt. Fund in Asom on Monday

New Delhi, Feb 16 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch the Mahatma Gandhi Backward Regions Development Fund (MGBRDF) on Monday at Barpeta, Asom.

MGBRDF is designed to redress regional imbalances in development.

The Fund will provide financial resources for supplementing and converging existing developmental inflows into identified districts.

The Fund has been established to bridge critical gaps in local infrastructure and other development requirements that are not being adequately met through existing inflows.

It will strengthen Panchayat and Municipality level governance with more appropriate capacity building, an official release said today.

The scheme also aims at facilitating participatory planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring, and to reflect local felt needs and provide professional support to local bodies for planning, implementation and monitoring their plans.

The Fund will improve the performance and delivery of critical functions assigned to Panchayats, and counter possible efficiency and equity losses on account of inadequate local capacity.

Funds allotted under the scheme will go to the State Consolidated Fund. Every district will receive a fixed minimum amount of Rs 10 crore a year plus additional allocations depending on population and area.

The scheme covers all the districts where the NREGP is implemented. Fifty per cent of the balance allocation under the scheme will be allocated on the basis of the share of the population of the district to the total population of all backward districts. UNI