PM Modi's Rurban Mission: Moving Fast Towards Operationalization

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government is moving fast on its ambitious `Rurban` mission - to provide urban amenities in rural areas - with an expert committee appointed to frame guidelines expected to give its report by the middle of October.

The ambitous Rurban mission is expected to help reduce migration from rural to urban areas with modern infrastructure being created in villages, as the present high rate of migration was creating heavy pressure on the civic infrastructure in India`s cities.

Official sources said that the committee, headed by S.M. Vijayanand, additional secretary in the rural development ministry, will frame guidelines for `Rurban` by incorporating the best practices of PURA - the government`s earlier scheme to provide urban facilities in rural areas.

"We are working very fast... The report of the committee is expected to be submitted by the middle of October," a senior official of the rural development ministry told IANS, not wishing to be named. The committee would study the experience of Rurban in Gujarat and also look at places where PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) had been "very successful."

The sources said that committee will seek feedback on work done under PURA at places such as Perriyar in Tamil Nadu, Loni in Maharashtra and the work on village development model by the Deendayal Research Institute at Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh.

They said that the committee will submit its report to the rural development ministry which will later move the cabinet. "The mission is expected to be operationalised by December," the official said.

Rurban, an idea associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had found a place in the manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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