Govt shifts focus to rural development

With Maharashtra victory in the bag, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is now planning his first real public interface on October 28 — at a...

With Maharashtra victory in the bag, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is now planning his first real public interface on October 28 — at a Jharkhand village to flag off the much-hyped ‘Food For Work Programme’.

So far, his public appearances have been limited to a visit to a drought-affected village in Andhra Pradesh or a trip to Maharashtra for a campaign.

Singh is going to follow up the launch of the programme, ‘Operation 150’, (the campaign will run across 150 districts in the country) with the formal opening of four missions on November 14. Besides

Food for Work, they are about Rural Healthcare, Urban Renewal and Water.

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The last two days have seen intense and indepth discussions on these programmes, involving the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Rural Development Minsiter Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.

‘‘There have been detailed discussions on what these missions entail and how to make them effective,’’ said a minister, after attending a meeting.

Pressing ahead with the advantage that Maharashtra has given the UPA, and with the Congress sensing a potential for revival, Singh is planning to project an image of his government which is ‘pro-poor’. It is not surprising that he has chosen Jharkhand for the programme launch. Elections are due in the state early next year and the incumbent BJP government there faces an uphill task. Fourteen districts have been identified in the state for the programme.

The largest number of districts identified as ‘‘most backward’’ are in Orissa (18), followed by Madhya Pradesh(15), Bihar (15),Jharkhand (14), Maharashtra (11), Chhattisgarh (10), Andhra Pradesh (8) and Gujarat (6). The southern states account for a smaller number of backward districts — Tamil Nadu has 4, Karnataka 3 and Kerala’s got 1.

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‘Operation 150’ is the first step towards the enactment of the National Employment Guarantee Act, a draft of which is now ready. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had announced in his Budget speech that pending the enactment of the National Employment Guarantee Act, which would provide legal guarantee for at least 100 days of employment on programmes of public works, a massive Food for Work Programme would be started in 150 of the most backward districts.

The Planning Commission has evolved a method of identifying the most backward districts by taking poverty ratio as the basis for the identification — using agricultural productivity, wage rate and SC/ST population. Many current states would have been excluded, say sources, if 150 districts at the bottom of the ladder of backwardness had been taken. It was decided that that at least one district in each state would be covered. The only exception is Goa, which is relatively prosperous. The Centre will provide these states with foodgrains free of cost.