Minister urges for planning body in districts

Udupi, Nov 16 (UNI) Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya today said every district should have a district planning body to recommend to both the Centre and State Government, as some of the Central- sponsored programmes, like National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme were not suiting the local conditions of the undivided Daxina Kannada district.

Inaugurating a five-day 'Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign', an innovative media outreach strategy, developed by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) here, Mr Acharya said acute shortage of labourers were witnessed in the NREG scheme, in the district, though it was implemented in other districts in the state, since the wages fixed by the Centre was insufficient compared to the high wages drawn by the labourers.

The minister said the State Government would hold discussions with the Centre to fix wages to suit the conditions in Daxina Kannada and Udupi District.

The district planning body would prepare the plans and recommend to the Centre and the State to enable the former to modify the schemes before sending them for implantation at the district level, he added.

Stating that even after 60 years of Independence, ''we could not provide economic infrastructure to the rural areas,'' he said there was need for active cooperation for developmental works and awareness among the people on the issue.

There was also need for strengthening rural areas, which could be achieved through effective implementation of former President A P J Abdul Kalam's vision of 'PURA' (Provision of Urban facility in Rural Areas), he added.

UNI MA AKM SBC BD1935