Lesser stress on rural infra this year

Even as the FM allocated Rs 10,000 cr for Bharat Nirman,it appears this years Budget gave the sector a slip.

Showering largesse on the infrastructure sector,the finance minister held back while making allocations for UPA-IIs rural infrastructure agenda under the umbrella of Bharat Nirman. For fiscal 2011-12,Pranab Mukherjee enhanced the allocation for the six schemes under it by Rs 10,000 crore.

Bharat Nirman,which includes Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY),Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (ACIBP),Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY),Indira Awas Yojana (IAY),National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) and Rural Telephony have together been allocated Rs 58,000 crore. While enhancing the allocation,he said a plan to provide broadband to over 2.5 lakh panchayats in three years has been finalised.

The UPA government has significantly scaled up the flow of resources to rural areas to give a more inclusive thrust to the development process, said Mukherjee,and acknowledged a lot still needs to be done while striving to strike the balance between legitimate environmental concerns and necessary developmental needs.

Under the Indira Awas Yojana,the allocation has been kept at the same level as last year of Rs 10,000 crore. The scheme promotes rural housing for those below poverty line and belonging to SC/ST sections. PMGSY,received a leg up too,as its allocation went up by Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore in fiscal 2011-12. Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY),rechristened as National Rural Livelihood Mission,for establishing micro enterprises,received Rs 2,914 crore.

The government allocated Rs 9,350 crore for National Rural Drinking Water Program(NRDWP) for providing safe drinking water,Rs 1,650 crore for Total Sanitation Campaign(TSC) and Rs 2,549 crore for Integrated Watershed Management Program (IWMP). All these schemes aim at uplifting the standard of living in rural India and addressing shortage of basic amenities and providing all weather roads connecting rural areas to towns and cities.

Enhanced allocation under the Rural Infrastructure Devlopement Fund (RIDF) of Rs 2,000 crore for fiscal 2011-12,taking the total to Rs 18,000 crore,is likely to give a filip to employment is rural areas and generation of long term assets. Mukherjee said the fund,highly popular with states,is an important instrument for routing bank funds for financing rural infrastructure. The additional allocation would be dedicated to creation of warehousing facilities, he said,pointing out towards creation of additional 24 lakh metric tonnes of storage capacity under the Rural Godown Scheme.

However real estate consultant JLLs Anuj Puri,Raising the corpus of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund from Rs16,000 crore to Rs18,000 crore means opening up the real estate potential of hinterland locations.

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Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Rs 20,000 crore
Providing roads
Indira Awas Yojana
Rs 10,000 crore
Providing dwellings
Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
Rs 2,914 crore
For small start-ups
National Rural Drinking Water Programme
Rs 9,350 crore
For clean drinking water
Total Sanitation Campaign
Rs 1,650 crore
For better hygene
Integrated Watershed Management Programme
Rs 2,549 crore
For integrated watershed.