Jharkhand today launched the Yojana Banao Abhiyan at a workshop held inside the BNR Chanakya hotel in Ranchi.

The Abhiyan,attracting the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) members, college principals, district and block level officers,was launched by Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das.”This scheme is meant for the people to formulate plan at the village level and the government will implement it”,said the CM.

In fact,the Yojana Banawo Abhiyan is on the lines of Karnataka and Kerala where the state government’s scheme involved communities and PRIs for framing projects to be taken up under various government schemes like MGNREGS, National Rural Livelihood Mission and so on.

“Since the feasibility of a project is best understood by the villagers itself, the Yojana Banao Abhiyan is an initiative towards involving people’s participation in budget making and allocation of funds”,said Principal Secretary(Rural Development)N.N.Sinha.

He added that it is the state government’s ambitious project aiming to mobilise the villagers including the PRI members who would know where the fund should be invested in.”As we all know,they know where the money can be best spent according to the village’s needs,” said Sinha.

Reports indicate that resource persons from the PMRDF (Prime Ministers Rural Development Fellow) and active social workers have welcomed the project as it is expected to open employment avenues using the available resources locally, decentralise planning process,help Gram Panchayat carry awareness programmes and improve basic amenities through the utilisation of funds under Gram Panchayat.

The participants learnt about role of Gram panchayats in planning, role of women self help groups and managing awareness programmes and meetings in villages. The block level training programmes that will commence from January 4 will also have two college students from a block who will be trained on the same lines.

Another district official said that the state government has launched Yojana Banao Abhiyan, an ambitious campaign to encourage people’s participation in planning at the grassroots level to meet the needs of villages.

Worked out following the models of Karnataka and Kerala, the campaign will involve communities and panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) for planning projects to be taken up under various government schemes like MGNREGS, National Rural Livelihood Mission etc.

“We are hopeful that energetic panchayati raj institutions, better and judicious selection of work for creating livelihood and a ready list of projects that can be undertaken by any government departments are the expected outcomes of this campaign,” he added.