While the Government of India has targeted 50,000 gram panchayats (GPs) in the country to be made “poverty-free” by October 2, 2019, at least 1,342 GPs in Odisha are to come under the scheme.
The Centre has informed the State Government in this regard and urged it to undertake a selection process for these GPs immediately so that implementation of the programme starts from April 1, 2017 to ensure removal of deprivation and backwardness in the GPs by Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Jayanti in 2019.
Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) Secretary Amarjeet Sinha has written to the State Government that the programme is being taken up under the Mission Antyodaya, which is a partnership of Central and State Governments to improve wellbeing of one crore households.
This move is aimed at addressing all the dimensions of poverty through convergent action and a saturation approach under the existing schemes by Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.
While choosing 1,342 GPs out of 6,665 GPs in Odisha, the MoRD has taken into account the demography and the deprivation aspects in the State. These are the poorest GPs so far as the population below the poverty line and their deprivation are concerned, sources said.
While earlier the Mission Antyodaya took up issues like open defecation-free, water conservation, Sansad Adarsh Gram, Rurban Cluster, crime and dispute-free, etc., this time it would undertake poverty-free plans in the GPs, said Sinha.
The MoRD has urged the State Government to complete the process of selection of the GPs at the earliest to ensure interventions through a Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).
Sinha has underlined the need that priority must be assigned to these GPs in all the Central and State schemes to ensure adequate investments for their development. Baseline indicators for every GP would be developed early so as to work towards removal of deprivation and backwardness.
The MoRD is developing a web-based system of reporting and monitoring of these issues from time to time and would be redefining the development indicators.
While selecting the GPs, it is important to ensure a GP’s commitment towards becoming poverty-free, and these GPs should resolve that they want to become poverty-free. The process would be in a participatory approach, and development plans are needed to be structured in that way, pointed out Sinha.
The selection of the 1,342 GPs would have to be taken up by the State Government by March 31 to enable a saturation approach programme implementation from April 1, said he.