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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Rs. 1,500-cr. plan for census towns

Rs. 1,500-cr. plan for census towns

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published Published on Jun 7, 2012   modified Modified on Jun 7, 2012
-The Hindu
 
To provide water supply, drainage, solid waste management and street lighting 

If a rural area boasts a high population — well above 5,000, sometimes as high as 20,000 — with most of its workforce in non-farm jobs, is it a village or a town? For almost 4,000 such areas, the definition is unclear: the census calls them towns, but since they have gram panchayats rather than municipal corporations, the government seems to consider them rural.

The government has now launched a Rs. 1,500-crore revamp of the PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities for Rural Areas) scheme to bring basic infrastructure to these areas that are falling through the cracks of the rural-urban divide.

Big phenomenon

“This is the big phenomenon of the 2011 Census,” says Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh. “The number of statutory towns [with a municipal corporation] has stayed almost the same from 2001. The number of villages is almost the same. But the number of so-called census towns has grown from just 1,362 in 2001 to 3,894 now.”

A census town is defined as a place with a population of over 5,000, a population density of more than 400 per square kilometre, with three-fourths of its male workforce employed in non-agricultural jobs.

“We have schemes for rural infrastructure, and schemes for urban infrastructure, but neither of them apply for these trishanku — caught in the middle areas,” added Mr. Ramesh.

The Planning Commission has now agreed to grant Rs. 1,500 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan period to fund a public-private partnership scheme to bring water supply, sewerage, drainage, solid waste management and street lighting to such unofficial urban clusters, mostly in the six States — Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala — which have seen the highest growth of census towns.

Kalam scheme revisited

The scheme is a revamp of the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's brainchild, PURA, which was initially aimed at providing city amenities to villages. In its latest avatar, PURA 2.0 is focussing on the development of 50 to 60 potential growth centres such as census towns. Initial pilot projects have begun in Kerala, with eight other projects awaiting final approvals from State governments. Earlier this week, the Rural Development Ministry invited expressions of interest for 10 to 15 more projects.

Under the scheme, the Central government will grant Rs. 40 crore for each project with the private player expected to invest Rs. 20-30 crore. Another Rs. 80 crore is expected to come from the convergence of existing schemes.

Gram panchayats will sign agreements with private players to build and maintain the infrastructure for a 10-year period during which they can recoup their investment, says the Ministry's advertisement.

The Hindu, 7 June, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article3498942.ece


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