Rural Planning

Objective - Improvement of economic and social well-being of people in rural

areas on a sustainable basis with focus on the rural poor and the other disadvantaged groups by elimination of poverty, ignorance, diseases and inequality of opportunities and providing a better and higher quality of life. The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution has greatly empowered the panchayats to take part in decentralized planning from the Gram Sabha level to the Zilla Parishad level. There are several administrative levels below the district, such as the sub division, the taluka or the block, the mandal and the panchayat. The districts in India are fairly large units. It has, therefore, often been considered desirable to decentralise the planning process below the district level, more particularly at the block level. Gujarat has taken a major initiative in decentralising the planning at the taluka level. From 1982-83, the District Planning Boards in Gujarat began allocating at least 66 to 75 per cent of their discretionary outlay among the talukas on the basis of certain objective criteria.

 Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) has emerged as one of the most important programmes of rural development in India. It is a main programme of poverty alleviation in terms of volume of aggregate investment, number of families to be benefited, and spread of area to be covered. It is a centrally sponsored programme with 50% financial contribution from the centre. Works under the overall guidance of the central government. Responsibility of preparing plans has been assigned to District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Preparation of five year perspective plan as well as annual action plans at the block and district level.

Fiver Year Perspective Plan:

Preparation of a resource inventory for identifying the development potential of the area. This consists of five parts: a) population and human resources b) area and location-specific resource data c) economic activities with details of institutions engaged with them d) other Infrastructure e) social and institutional facilities Review of all the on-going programmes, both and non-plan at the block level. Sector-wise preparation of a perspective plan for the block. Preparation of a perspective credit plan in accordance with the guidelines issued by the RBI. Selection of the village cluster based on existence of programme specific infrastructure, availability of credit institutions, present level of development of the area, the capacity to absorb credit to the extent envisaged and concentration of SC/ST and other weaker sections

Planning Organisation at the Taluka/Block level Planning machinery Taluka Development Officer, Medical Officer P.H.C., Deputy Executive Engineers, President of Social justice committee, President of Nagar Panchayat, the MLAs/MPs of the area, and the members of the district Panchayat. T.D.O is the convenor of the committee. The committee meets once in three months for reviewing progress. The proposals after being passed by the committee are sent to the District Planning Officer for approval of the District Planning Board.

Stages in Village Panchayat planning :

Village vision

Final consolidated plan consideration and approval

Village Panchayat

Solution nding

Prioritisation of solutions & fund allocation

Finalisation of sectoral plan

Village Panchayat standing committee/ working group

Issue identication by Gram Sabha

Second Gram Sabha to nalise priorities and solution

Gram Sabha/ Ward Sabha

The Rural Development Division looks after the following programmes being implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD): Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGS)

Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP)