The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday, 9 December, approved the proposal to name a new rural development scheme after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar.
‘Sharad Pawar Gram Samruddhi Yojana’ will be implemented under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNRES).
The decision has been taken to commemorate the 80th birthday of Sharad Pawar on 11 December.
A Senior Minister told the Free Press Journal that under the scheme, construction of 1 lakh kilometre roads to connect farms will be undertaken, along with improving the access to farms and providing jobs.
The construction of farm ponds and stables are also proposed under the scheme, and the government proposes to complete them in the next three years with the expenditure of Rs 10,0000 crore.
Construction of pakka sheds for cattle, goats and poultry farming will also be undertaken under ‘Sharad Pawar Gram Samruddhi Yojana’.
“The idea is to create job opportunities for those who are unemployed in rural areas and develop permanent assets for gram panchayats and allied villages. The assets to be developed can be of personal and public use. The scheme will also help in stopping migration from villages due to unemployment,”An official from the EGS department told Hindustan Times
An official told The Time of India that there will be no additional burden on the state exchequer and that the funds allotted allotted for the schemes under EGS will be utilised for the plan.
The announcement of the scheme comes just weeks after the MVA government completed one year of coming to power following Shiv Sena’s fallout with the BJP after the Assembly elections last year.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times, TOI and Free Press Journal.)
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