Development is a comprehensive programme in which more than one ministry or organization is required to make solid contribution. Development has to be all-sided and uniform so that a definite level of improvement in life is attained systematically. It is carried out only after some hard exercise of planning is done at the level of experts and professionals. This is the task, which Union Ministries in our country are required to do. They plan for the entire country and then reach each state with its proposals of development.
For the second time, the Union Rural Development Minister had to caution the State Government against its failure to implement the conditions of various Centrally sponsored schemes for rural development. Any centrally sponsored development plan is usually accompanied by a set of guidelines and instructions, which need to be implemented. Once the Union Ministry of Rural Development accords sanction to any scheme for implementation in the State, the recipient State is bound to respect the guidelines.
The point taken up by the Union Rural Development Minister is that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir was required to constitute vigilance and monitoring mechanism that would periodically report the progress in the implementation of its schemes sanctioned under various programmes. The State Department of Rural Development was required to constitute monitoring committees at State and district levels, which would be meeting quarterly, and reporting on the progress of these schemes. The Minister in charge of Rural Department would be the chairman of State level V&M Committee while an MP would be chairing the District level committee. There seems good purpose in constituting the committees with responsible persons to chair their meetings.
State Government has not taken the guidelines seriously and the question of constituting vigilance and monitoring committees remains muddled. It has to be remembered that most of the Central ministries floating developmental programmes under their sponsorship do so only after full consideration of the schemes in hand and discussing the possibilities of their implementation in the states. The guidelines thus proposed are meant to facilitate the State Governments in implementing the projects properly and to the maximum utility. Government’s failure to introduce the monitoring mechanism has no justification and if the donor agency threatens to stop funding for the projects and schemes under its contemplation, it is justified. That is a loss not to the State and its people.
The Union Minister of Rural Development has to made a personal appeal to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene in the matter and regularize the vigilance and monitoring mechanism in the State for the schemes sponsored by the Union RD Ministry. We are aware that Chief Minister has taken a leading role in strengthening vigilance and monitoring of administration and development schemes in the State. In fact he has taken a big step in this direction by initiating formulation of various mechanisms aimed at bringing all sided development to the grass root level. It appears there are some bottlenecks in the Department of Rural Development, which are obstructing full implementation of the guidelines of Union RD Ministry. Constituting aforementioned committees is not a complicated matter that would take long time or need some special exercise. These Committees are not meant only to monitor the progress of the schemes but also to become feeders to other departments that are connected with the development of the State. In particular, we would like to bring to mind that constituting of the said committees is a strong instrument of empowering people’s representatives under Panchayati Raj scheme. Don’t forget that rural India is real India and eighty per cent of our population lives in rural areas. It will be found that the Union RD Ministry floats maximum developmental projects to benefit the rural population in the country and the State. Monitoring the schemes has become essential in view of past experience. It is possible that under Panchayati Raj system, rural developmental schemes and projects will not be allowed to go astray and become unproductive. On spot watch prevents drifting of schemes towards wrong direction. It is this apprehension, which a Vigilance and Monitoring mechanism has to prevent.
In final analysis, we hope that the Chief Minister will not only direct the concerned at the RD Department to respond to the instructions of the Union RD Ministry but will also go into the story why RD Department failed to fulfill the conditions till a stage came when the Union RD Minister had to request personal intervention of the CM in the matter. There will be no justification for the State Government to ask for funds and schemes from the central authorities if it is not able to fulfill the pre-requisites of a scheme it is asking for. The loss will be of the people of the State. We cannot afford that.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel