BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Wednesday set up a State Level Empowered Committee (SLEC) for development of rural growth structures under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM).
The scheme also known as National Rurban Mission will be implemented soon with the support of both Central and State Governments.
Presiding over a meeting of the SLEC here, Chief Secretary AP Padhi advised the department concerned to prioritise road, pipe water supply, electricity, street lightning, sanitation, health and housing schemes along with establishment of agro-processing units in the identified clusters of the State.
The areas, he said, should be planned and developed in clusters with urban features and facilities.
The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which have latent potential for growth in the region. These clusters will be developed by provisioning of economic activities, developing skills and local entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities, said Panchyatiraj Secretary DK Singh.
The Mission launched by the Ministry of Rural Development targets at bridging rural urban divide, reducing poverty through enhanced income generating activities, development of small and medium enterprises and attracting investment in rural areas.
The meeting decided that the Mission will be implemented through a 3-tier structure in the State. These are Cluster Development and Management Unit (CDMU) at cluster level, District Project Monitoring Unit (DPMU) under the chairmanship of Collector and State Level Empowered Committee (SPMU) under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary.
The Panchayatiraj Department will be the State Nodal Agency for the Mission. Director, NRLM (National Rural Livelihood Mission) Pranab Jyoti Nath will be State Mission Leader for monitoring and supervision of SPMRM.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, will be the State Technical Support Agency for preparation of action plans, project reports and help in implementation of the scheme, the officials said.
Singh said each rurban cluster will be a unit of geographically contiguous villages with a population of about 25,000 to 50,000 in plain and coastal areas. In tribal, hilly and desert areas, the cluster will consist of contiguous villages with a population of 5,000 to 15,000.
The Mission Director said it has been decided to cover seven clusters including five from non-tribal and two from tribal areas in the first phase.
The Mission will cover other areas of the State in phased manner. Integrated Action Plans will be prepared for each cluster. The fund for the projects will be mobilised through convergence of various Central and State sector schemes and critical gap fund from the national rurban mission, Nath added.