In what is being seen as a major achievement of the Uttarakhand rural development department, the Government of India has approved the Integrated Cluster Action Plan presented by the Uttarakhand State administration. This and related aspects were discussed in detail in the empowered committee meeting of urban mission for the State of Uttarakhand organised under the chairmanship of the Government of India’s secretary of Rural Development on Wednesday.
At the meeting, the State’s additional secretary of rural department Yugal Kishore Pant made a presentation on the integrated cluster action plan of two clusters -- Bhaktapur-Abidpur in Bahadrabad block of Haridwar district and the Athoorwala cluster of Doiwala block in Dehradun district with a cost of about Rs 210 crore. The budget is proposed for development of basic amenities in both the clusters along with the inclusion of skill development and livelihood enhancement activities. Official sources said, out of the total approved budget, about Rs 60 crore will be provided by the Ministry of Rural Development while the remaining amount of the budget will be made available by the State Government from the exisiting ongoing centrally sponsored and State sponsored schemes.
The MoRD joint secretary for rural development Alka Upadhyay, Rurban Mission project coordinator (MoRD) Vineeta Hariharan, representative from petroleum ministry, information technology and other departments of the Government of India were also among those who were present in the meeting. From Uttarakhand, the meeting was attended by state principal secretary of rural development, Manisha Panwar and Uttarakhand State Rural livelihood Mission (USRlM) chief operating officer Prabhakar Bebni were among those present in the meeting.