The Centre has approved Rs1,354 crore five-year project ending 2016, for the construction, upgradation and improvement of 433 km-long road in six North-East states.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its nod to the project christened “ADB assisted North Eastern State Roads Investment Programme”.

A centrally-sponsored scheme of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, the project would benefit around 4.8 million people living around the projects.

Others would also reap benefit from lower transport costs and faster transit time, an official statement said on Thursday.

In the first tranche, 74.7 km road in Assam, 93.4 km in Meghalaya and 34.2 km road would be constructed or upgraded or improved; while in the second, fund would be used for the same in around 63 km road in Assam, 93.2 km in Manipur, 55 km in Mizoram and 20.3 km in Tripura.

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region has been entrusted with the job of overall coordination with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and participating states and also monitor the progress of the project.

Rs 200 cr more for drinking water schemes in Bundelkhand

The Government has sanctioned an additional Rs 200 crore to address drinking water problems in the parched Bundelkhand region covering parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The money sanctioned by the Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is over and above the Rs 7,266 crore special package announced by the Centre for the drought-prone region.

“The additional central assistance will enable the states to address the problem of drinking water better during the summer months,” I&B Minister Ambika Soni told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

The package as a whole will enable the people in the region to optimise water resources through rainwater harvesting and proper utilisation of the river systems along with promoting diversified agriculture, she said.

Soni said for implementing the drinking water component, the two state governments will send proposals to the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), which will recommend release of this additional central assistance in consultation with the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

The Union Cabinet also approved a few adjustments in implementation of the drought mitigation strategies, which were requested by the two state governments and NRAA.

Madhya Pradesh government has proposed to provide funds for water-lifting devices and construction of stop-dams in place of the earlier approved components of farm ponds and recharge of dugwells.

It has also proposed to provide additional support for the dairy sector and for construction of Singpur Barrage by using a part of funds from the package.

Gandhi had met the Prime Minister in July 2009 and sought a special package of Rs 8,000 crore for development of the backward Bundelkhand region.

In November 2009, the Centre had announced a special package of Rs 7,266 crore for Bundelkhand which was to be implemented over a period of three years from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

UP’s share in the package was Rs 3,506 crore and MP was to receive Rs 3,706 crore.

The Planning Commission has already approved Rs 2,114 crore for the last two financial years to the states of which Rs 1,800 crore has already been released.

CCEA approves job-linked skill prog for one lakh J&K youth

A proposal to provide job-linked skill training to one lakh youth in Jammu and Kashmir over the next five years under a centrally sponsored scheme was today got approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

The training will be provided under Skill Empowerment and Employment Special Scheme for J&K, which will be 100 per cent centrally assisted and cost the exchequer Rs 235.3 crore, an official statement said.

The scheme is a placement linked, market driven skill training programme for J&K youth.

The placements will be in the private sector both within and outside J&K, it said.

It will commence from June-July this year and cover youth from both Below Poverty Line and non-BPL categories.

In the first year, 15,000 youth will receive training for salaried and self employment opportunities.

A recommendation in this regard had been made by a committee headed by former RBI Governor C Rangarajan.

The panel was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to suggest measures to enhance employment opportunities in the state and formulate a plan involving both private and public sectors.

Of the total expenditure, Rs 70.59 crore will be met from existing budget of the Rural Development Ministry under SGSY Scheme to cover 75 per cent cost of training rural BPL youth.

The remaining will be covered under special scheme for J&K to cover rural non-BPL, urban BPL and non-BPL youth.

“I think that (CCEA decision) will give a good boost to bring the youths into the mainstream because they have guaranteed 75 per cent of placement in various industry and other offices throughout the country,” Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told reporters.

The Rangarajan panel had submitted its report to the Prime Minister in February, 2011.

The report suggested a two pronged approach to employment generation — identify sectoral initiatives for growth and employment generation and increase employability of youth by improving skill sets.

“The objective of the scheme is to provide options and opportunities to all youth in J&K, ranging from school dropouts to college educated, to select training programme for salaried or self employment opportunities as per their interest,” the statement said.

It is estimated that 70 per cent funds will be used to provide salaried employment linked training, and the remaining for self employment linked training.

Placement for youths will be provided all over the country.

Under the scheme, different training strategies will be used for diverse groups of youth school dropouts, dropouts of XII class level, and those who have had college education.