Centre grants funds to Punjab, Kerala for rural development

New Delhi, July 30 (UNI) The Centre has released Rs 10.58 crore to Punjab for the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana while Kerala has been given Rs 27.64 crore for rural water supply.

The Ministry of Rural Development has released the payment of Grants-in-aid amounting to Rs 10.58 crore out of the Central allocation of Rs 17.93 crore, as first instalment to the four Districts of Punjab for the implementation of SGRY during 2007-08.

The districts to receive the funds were Faridkot, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh and Gurdaspur.

The grant is towards plan expenditure and will be utilized for approved items of works subject to the conditions laid down in the SGRY Guidelines.

Meanwhile, the Ministry has sanctioned Rs 27.64 crore to Kerala towards the balance of first instalment of funds against the provisional allocation of Rs 82.93 crore under the Centrally sponsored Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme of Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, during 2007-08.

Up to 15 per cent of funds released under this sanction may be utilized for Operation&Maintenance and up to five per cent of funds may be spent for taking sustainability measures. States have been requested to delegate powers for management of Rural Water Supply Schemes through the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as per the Constitution of India. As such Operation and Maintenance of the completed RWS Scheme should be transferred to the PRIs.

UNI