Government seeks private partnership in rural development

Tuesday, 13 April 2010, 15:12 IST
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New Delhi: The government Monday asked the private sector to chip in with technical knowhow, skill development and infrastructure for the development of rural India. "The industry can support the cause of rural development in technical pursuits, housing, linking landmark infrastructure projects to the grass roots, skills development etc," Rural Development Secretary B.K. Sinha said, addressing the second National Rural Development Summit organised by the Panchayati Raj ministry and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here. The summit is aimed at providing a platform to the private sector to discuss the scope of partnership to expedite development in rural areas. Sinha said: "Technological breakthroughs aiming at improving agricultural productivity must come out and successful projects should be replicated on a large scale." He said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) had improved agricultural wages and benefited small land holdings. And through mechanisms like community managed sustainable agriculture (CMSA), "even a half-acre land can provide sustainability to a family", he said. Planning Commission member Arun Maira stressed the need for better collaboration between the government, the private sector and the rural people. "The populace should be educated with the right set of skills considering the projections of their employability and a healthy lifestyle through Public-Private People Partnership (PPPP) mode," he said. "The government of India has had the largest programmes to combat malnutrition, but still the country has 45 percent malnourished children," said Maira.
Source: IANS
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