Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has proposed to set up a rural development flexi (RDF) fund worth Rs 40,000 crore, wherein the Centre will pay 70 percent of the amount.
At a joint press conference addressed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and Ramesh said the flexi fund will be available to all states and the corpus could expand when it comes up for a mid-term revision. "The fund will ensure better targeting and the states will be free to use funds as per their requirements," Ramesh told reporters.
The fund, he said, will be used over the next four years.
The 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) has proposed an allocation of Rs 490,000 crore to the Ministry of Rural Development and Rs 100,000 crore to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ahluwalia said. "We are taking a fresh look at social sector schemes," he said adding, "...these schemes need to be made more flexible".
He advocated restructuring of the existing schemes of rural development ministry.
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