New Delhi, February 06: The Centre Friday took stock of the progress of its rural development programmes in Andhra Pradesh and asked the State Government to pursue setting up a Rajiv Gandhi seva kendra in each panchayat. In a meeting with Chief Minister K Rosaiah and Rural Development Minister V Vasant Kumar here, Union Minister C P Joshi also discussed the implementation of various Central schemes of Panchayti Raj Ministry, an official said. Joshi discussed in length the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA in the State and enquired about the steps taken by the State Government towards the convergence of NREGA with various other Centrally sponsored schemes, an official said .
Joshi assured them that the Andhra Pradesh Government will get full cooperation from Centre in respect of timely aid by the ministry for the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and other flagship programmes of the Rural Development Ministry and Panchayati Raj.
Expanding the scope of works under Mahatma gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Centre included the construction of Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra as a permissible activity under the Act last year. A guideline in this regard was issued to all the state governments in December last year .
The objective of the programme is to provide dedicated offices in panchayats and blocks for efficient implementation of NREGA . The programme also aims to provide a per manent of f i c e of gram panchayats and village knowledge centres in each panchayat and block to enable meetings of gram sabhas and other group activities.
–Agencies