Rural development top priority of government: President Pranab Mukherjee

NEW DELHI: Rural development is one of the top priorities of the government, President Pranab Mukherjee said today and hoped the grant of Rs two lakh crore for Gram Panchyats will move development activity closer to people.

In his address to Parliament, he also said Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has been revamped to ensure efficient disbursement of wages, increased transparency and creation of productive assets.

"The grant of over Rs two lakh crore by the 14th Finance Commission over a five-year period from 2015-16, exclusively for Gram Panchayats has been received with great enthusiasm by the states.

"This will move development activity closer to the people and enable them to decide how they want to improve their villages and wards," Mukherjee said.

Noting that Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission has also been launched for 300 rural growth clusters for developing skills and local entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities, he said the government has decided to set up rural livelihood and technology business incubators to boost entrepreneurship in the agriculture and rural sector.

He described the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme as "new vertical" to strengthen the livelihood of artisans and weavers.

"In its first phase, about 1.82 lakh village enterprises will be created and strengthened in 125 Blocks across 24 states creating employment for about 3.78 lakh persons," he said.

The President also talked about Mission Antyodaya, an intensive Participatory Planning Exercise that has reached 2,569 most backward blocks, to identify the kind of assets to be created and mentioned about the construction of two lakh Anganwadi buildings in 2,534 most backward blocks under MGNREGA over a period of four years.