Seven clusters in first phase of Rurban Mission

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Bhubaneswar: The state government Wednesday decided to include seven clusters in the first phase of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM), which will be implemented soon with the support of both the Centre and the state government.
Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi asked officials at the first state-level empowered committee (SLEC) meeting to cover seven clusters, including 5 from non-tribal and 2 from tribal areas in the first phase. A cluster will consist of geographically contiguous villages with a population of about 25,000 to 50,000 in plain and coastal areas. In tribal, hilly and desert areas, the cluster will consist of contiguous villages with a population of 5,000 to 15,000.
Padhi asked officials to prioritise schemes regarding roads, pipewater supply, electricity, street lighting, sanitation, health and housing, along with the establishment of agro-processing units in the first phase. The Chief Secretary directed the officials to develop the clusters with urban features and facilities.
“The basic objective of the rurban mission is to stimulate economic development, enhance basic services and create well planned rurban localities in the state,” said panchayati raj secretary DK Singh.
The mission will cover other areas of the state in a phased manner, said the director of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Pranab Jyoti Nath, who has been appointed state mission leader for monitoring and supervision of SPMRM.
Nath said integrated action plans would be prepared for each cluster. Funds for the projects will be mobilised through convergence of various central and state sector schemes and from critical gap fund, he said.
The mission would be implemented through a three-tier structure in the state, an official said. These are the cluster development and management units (CDMU) at the cluster level, district project monitoring unit (DPMU) under the collector and the state-level empowered committee (SPMU) under the Chief Secretary.
The panchayati raj department is the nodal agency for the implementation of the mission in the state while IIT Kharagpur will be the state technical support agency (STSA) for preparation of action plans, project reports and implementation of the scheme, an official said.
The mission, launched by the Union ministry of rural development, aims to bridge the rural-urban divide, reduce poverty through enhanced income generating activities, develop small and medium enterprises and attract investment in rural areas.