After having ensured that the Land Bill was introduced in the Parliament, minister of rural development (MoRD) Jairam Ramesh has now put on top priority the next task of making meaningful and result-oriented intervention in Naxal-affected areas of the country by delivering benefits under the flagship schemes.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with district collectors of the Naxal-affected areas on coming on Tuesday, the office of Mr Ramesh is learnt to be fine-tuning the ministry’s approach to become an integral part in dealing with the Naxal issue.
The MoRD is also set to unveil its strategy to deliver the benefits of various flagship schemes spearheaded by the rural development ministry soon. Mr Ramesh has reportedly instructed officials to make the 73 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts the focus areas with a clear approach of convergence of schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA), Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), Integrated Rural Drinking Water Scheme (IRDWS) and Indira Awas Yojna (IAY).
The MoRD is looking ahead at the ongoing socio-economic and caste survey with keen interest to get the data to focus on the Naxal affected areas. The data will enable the MoRD to know number of people in the below poverty line (BPL) category to identify beneficiaries of the flagship schemes and reaching them out the benefits.