The Hindu : Separate body for wasteland development

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 06, 2003

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Separate body for wasteland development

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 5. The Rural Development Ministry will constitute a separate body for land reforms and wasteland development. The 11-member body will draft policies for development and management of wasteland in the country.

The Ministry has already sent a note to the Cabinet for approval. According to the Union Rural Development Minister, Kashiram Rana, the mission — to be named Jaya Prakash Mission for Land Reforms and Wasteland Development — will be the first umbrella organisation of its kind that will draft long-term policies and issue directions for bringing about land reforms and development of wasteland.

The mission will be chaired by Mr. Rana with the Ministers for Environment and Forests and Agriculture as its members. The other members will be the Secretaries of these Ministries, the Secretary, Planning Commission, the Secretary, Expenditure, the Additional Secretary, Wasteland Development Board, and two non-official members.

Talking to The Hindu, Mr. Rana said the mission had been constituted to ensure that there was optimum utilisation of wasteland and the land reforms were brought about to benefit people, particularly the farmers. Representation from the Planning Commission would help in overcoming the issues relating to financial implications of the mission.

Another area on which the Ministry is focussing is sanitation. The sanitation cover in rural India only 20 per cent, which is less than even that of Bangladesh. The Ministry would attempt to bring about a change in the attitude of the people by creating awareness right from the school level, Mr. Rana said, adding that this would be done with the help of the Human Resources Development Ministry.

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