Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi's pet project for the water-starved Bundelkhand region has received its first tranche of additional Central assistance well in time for water-harvesting structures, ponds and dug wells to be in place before the monsoon sets in.

COIMBATORE:

The state panchayat and rural development minister, Mr Anisur Rehaman today claimed in the Assembly that the panchayats in the Maoist-dominated areas of West Midnapore performed better in creating work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme than the Trinamul-controlled panchayats in South 24 Parganas.

The Performance Review Committee of the Union Rural Development Ministry will take stock of various development schemes sponsored by the Centre at a two-day meeting beginning here Wednesday. Besides the working of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, preparations for BPL Census will also come up for review.

The State government has identified about 405 villages across the State where drinking water will be supplied through tankers this summer.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 153.91 crore and a detailed report has already been prepared by the department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj as per the guidelines issued by the Centre.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today presented in the State Assembly a deficit Budget of Rs 3464.46 crore for the 2010-11 financial year of the State. He expressed the hope that the State would be able to attain a growth rate of around nine per cent during the financial year.

Bokaro, March 14: Buoyed by the overwhelming response to contact programmes and health camps organised for the villagers of Jhumra hills, the CRPF and district administration yesterday convened a medical camp and janta durbar at Rehawan, about 135 kilometres from Bokaro steel city.

KOLKATA, 14 March: After doing much better in terms of providing jobs to the rural populace under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the state panchayat and rural development department may face trouble to provide jobs to the villagers in the first quarter of the next financial year owing to a severe crisis of funds.

Panchayat, Rural Development and Social Justice Minister Gopal Bhargav has said that by 2013 all the villages in the State would be connected with roads throughout the year.