Agartala, Feb 11: Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday asserted that the VB-G RAM G scheme was aimed at creating jobs and boosting growth in rural infrastructure, while accusing the opposition Congress and CPI(M) of running a “negative campaign” against it.
Addressing a programme here, the Union minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare said that the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) scheme is a roadmap for making India developed as conceptualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“G-RAM-G is aimed at job generation and boosting growth in rural infrastructure but the opposition Congress and the communists are spreading a negative campaign to confuse the people living in the rural areas,” he said.
Chouhan said the Modi government has earmarked a record outlay for G-RAM-G in the budget tabled in Lok Sabha recently.
“In the Union budget, the finance minister has proposed Rs 95,600 crore for implementing G-RAM-G scheme. If we add the contribution of the states, the outlay will be Rs 1,51,282 crore and the finance commission will fund Rs 55,000 directly to gram panchayats.
“In all, over Rs 2 lakh crore will be spent on rural development in the upcoming fiscal. This means each gram panchayat will get Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 1.75 crore annually for development and growth,” he said.
Claiming that Rs 10 lakh crore will be spent on rural development in the next five years, the Union minister said the villages will face a “revolution of development” if the allocation is properly utilised.
Accusing the previous Left government of “destroying” the rural areas of Tripura, Chouhan said the PM has been focusing on development of rural areas as he also believes in the saying, “real India lives in villages”.
“The G-RAM-G scheme is set to change the picture of village and fate of the villagers in the years to come as it not only promises creation of jobs for rural poor but also durable assets,” he said.
Praising Tripura for empowering ‘didis’ through self-help groups (SHGs), he said the northeastern state has already produced 1.08 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’. (PTI)
