CCEA approved Panchayati Raj Ministry proposal on BRGF

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 12 December 2013 approved the proposal of the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj to continue district component of Backward Region Grants Fund (BRGF) in the current financial year (2013-14).

The district component of BRGF covers 272 backward districts in 27 states and the entitlement of each district is one crore rupees. The amount is used primarily to build capacity for elected representatives and functionaries of Panchayati Raj institutions.

The BRGF will have budgetary estimate of 6500 rupees during 2013-14. The fund will contribute towards poverty alleviation in backward districts and promote accountable and responsible panchayats and municipalities.

About Backward Region Grants Fund (BRGF)

The Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF), launched by the Prime Minister at Barpeta in Assam on 19th February 2007, signifies a new approach to addressing persistent regional imbalances in development. The programme subsumes the Rashtriya Sama Vikas Yojana (RSVY), a scheme earlier being administered by the Planning Commission.

Objectives of BRGF

The Backward Regions Grant Fund is designed to redress regional imbalances in development by way of providing financial resources for supplementing and converging existing developmental inflows into the identified backward districts, so as to:

• Bridge critical gaps in local infrastructure and other development requirements that are not being adequately met through existing inflows,
• Strengthen, to this end, Panchayat and Municipality level governance with more appropriate capacity building, to facilitate participatory planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring, to reflect local felt needs,
• Provide professional support to local bodies for planning, implementation and monitoring their plans,
• Improve the performance and delivery of critical functions assigned to Panchayats, and counter possible efficiency and equity losses on account of inadequate local capacity.

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