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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 7 months on, UPA-2 flagship schemes fail to impress by Rajeev Deshpande

7 months on, UPA-2 flagship schemes fail to impress by Rajeev Deshpande

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published Published on Jan 1, 2010   modified Modified on Jan 1, 2010

Seven months into its second innings in power, UPA-2’s report card on key target schemes is just about average. Initiatives like Rajiv Awas Yojana are yet to be fully formulated while some others like the western dedicated rail corridor are stalled and a few other schemes are suffering from end-user glitches.

A year-end review of flagship programmes, now scanned by PMO’s delivery monitoring unit apart from Cabinet Secretariat, has highlighted the need for greater attention on implementation aspects of projects and schemes tagged by the Centre as special focus areas. Since UPA-2 does not have a common minimum programme, 18 schemes have been listed for particular scrutiny.

Rajiv Awas Yojana, the scheme to provide housing for urban poor, is still to roll out as its guidelines are not complete even as the Centre has asked the states to submit plans for the scheme that has set a lofty target of a slum free cities by 2014. States are to secure property rights to slum dwellers by passing relevant legislation but the Centre has to also provide details of the scheme to be covered under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

JNNURM itself has been well received with several states keen to bring in resources to deal with civic infrastructure but the delivery remains problematic despite funds being sanctioned. Some municipalities have been laggard in implementing land reform linked to the scheme while others are showing poor capacity to absorb investment. In short, last-mile delivery is a worry, holding up second and third instalments.

There is a worrying lack of progress with regard to the prestigious western dedicated rail corridor where despite Japanese readiness to provide a large, soft loan, matters are stuck. The main hurdle is in land acquisition due to railway minister Mamata Banerjee ruling out “forcible” acquisition given her political compulsions in West Bengal. Since land will not be acquired using the “public interest” clause, the project is currently going nowhere.

Of the initiatives being monitored, the well-settled Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is doing well but it is an exception that has got good grades. While SSA is on track, the landmark Right to Education Act is still caught up in a tangle over the massive funding it needs with states insisting that the Centre foot most of the bill. The issues related to RTE are moving back and forth between PMO and the HRD ministry.

A project that is progressing satisfactorily is the Assam gas cracker unit being carefully monitored by PMO.

Work on the national regulator for higher education and the innovation universities is in progress. With PMO having argued — backed by a report by tech czar Sam Pitroda — that a regulator should precede other initiatives like bringing foreign universities to India, there may be a greater consensus now on sequencing of education reforms.


The Times of India, 2 January, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/7-months-on-UPA-2-flagship-schemes-fail-to-impress/articleshow/5403778.cms
 

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