The Modi Government has decided to hold a mega CSR conclave next month where India Inc will be asked to take up the responsibility to fill the existing gaps in the Government schemes such as sewage and water in the villages under the flagship scheme Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY).
A senior official from the Union Ministry of Water and Sanitation, which is overseeing the national programme launched in October 2014, said at least 300 projects had been received from across the States relating to important development sectors such as electricity, education and water which needed additional financial resources for the execution.
“State Governments, corporate, District Collectors and Members of Parliament will attend the conclave. The companies will be given choice to select the project as per their interest,” said the official. So far, a total of 697 MPs, 499 MlAs and 198 from Rajya Sabha have identified a village each in their constituencies to be developed as model villages (Adarsh Gram) by 2016, as per the programme.
The official said though no new funds have been allocated for the scheme, resources can be raised from corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds. Other sources can be generated from the existing schemes, such as Indira Awas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and Backward Regions Grant Fund, etc. Some other resources are Member of Parliament local Area Development Scheme, the gram panchayat’s own revenue and Central and State Finance Commission Grants.