Centre to provide Rs 348.28 cr to AP towards BRGF

Hyderabad, Sep 15 (UNI) Union Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today informed Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy here that the Centre would provide Rs 348.28 crore annually to Andhra Pradesh, towards the Backward Regions'Grant Fund(BRGF).

Of the total amount, Rs 335.28 crore would be development grant for panchayats while Rs 13 crore for capacity-building of Panchayats and Municipalities.

He urged Dr Reddy to ensure that the requisite utilisation of certificates and progress reports were submitted immediately, after which his ministry would release 90 per cent of this allocation against the plans for 2008-09, this month itself.

The Chief Minister asked the Panchayatraj department to take necessary action in this regard. Efforts were on to convene the High Powered Committee for clearing of the BRGF proposals by the Chief Secretary soon, a official release here said.

The BRGF is being implemented in 13 districts in Andhra Pradesh.

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