Discuss objectives and design of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban (rural-urban) Mission. Would this Mission act as complementary to Smart City mission? Examine. (200 Words)

Discuss objectives and design of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban (rural-urban) Mission. Would this Mission act as complementary to Smart City mission? Examine. (200 Words)

  • The Rurban mission would replace the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (Pura) initiative.
  • Rurban would create village clusters to minimise rural migration to cities through skill development programmes.
  • Rural migration was increasing but could be contained by providing quality of life in villages
  • Under the scheme, 300 clusters would be developed with an investment of Rs 5,100 crore in three years.
  • The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which have latent potential for growth, in all States and UTs, which would trigger overall development in the region.
    • These clusters would be developed by provisioning of economic activities, developing skills & local entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities. The Rurban Mission will thus develop a cluster of Smart Villages.
  • These clusters would be well delineated areas with planned layouts prepared following the planning norms (as laid down in the State Town and Country Planning Acts/similar Central or State statutes as may be applicable), which would be duly notified by the State/UTs. These plans would be finally integrated with the District Plans/Master Plans as the case may be.
  • The mission aims to create 300 such Rurban growth clusters over the next 3 years, across the country. The funding for Rurban Clusters will be through various schemes of the Government converged into the cluster. The SPMRM will provide an additional funding support of upto 30 percent of the project cost per cluster as Critical Gap Funding (CGF) as Central Share to enable development of such Rurban clusters.
  • To ensure an optimum level of development, fourteen  components have been suggested as desirable for the cluster, which would include;  Skill development training linked to economic activities, Agro Processing/Agri Services/Storage and Warehousing, Digital Literacy, Sanitation, Provision of piped water supply, Solid and liquid waste management, Village streets and drains, Street lights, Fully equipped mobile health unit, Upgrading school /higher education facilities, Inter-village road connectivity, Citizen Service Centres- for electronic delivery of citizen centric services/e-gram connectivity, Public transport., LPG gas connections.
  •  The Mission envisages institutional arrangements both at the State and Center to ensure smooth implementation of the Mission. The Mission also has an Innovation budget towards facilitating research, development and capacity building.

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