Agartala, February 11 Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated on Wednesday that the VB-G RAM G scheme was aimed at creating jobs and boosting growth in rural infrastructure, while accusing the opposition Congress and CPI(M) of running a "negative campaign" against it.
Addressing a programme here, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare said that the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) scheme is a roadmap for making India developed as conceptualized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"G-RAM-G is aimed at job generation and boosting growth in rural infrastructure, but the opposition Congress and the communists are spreading a negative campaign to confuse the people living in the rural areas," he said.
Chouhan said the Modi government has earmarked a record outlay for G-RAM-G in the budget recently tabled in the Lok Sabha.
"In the Union budget, the finance minister has proposed Rs 95,600 crore for implementing the G-RAM-G scheme. If we add the contribution of the states, the outlay will be Rs 1,51,282 crore, and the finance commission will directly fund Rs 55,000 to gram panchayats."
"In all, over Rs 2 lakh crore will be spent on rural development in the upcoming fiscal. This means each gram panchayat will get Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 1.75 crore annually for development and growth," he said.
Claiming that Rs 10 lakh crore will be spent on rural development in the next five years, the Union Minister said that the villages will face a "revolution of development" if the allocation is properly utilized.
Accusing the previous Left government of "destroying" the rural areas of Tripura, Chouhan said that the PM has been focusing on the development of rural areas as he also believes in the saying, "real India lives in villages".
"The G-RAM-G scheme is set to change the picture of village and the fate of the villagers in the years to come as it not only promises the creation of jobs for the rural poor but also durable assets," he said.
Praising Tripura for empowering 'didis' through self-help groups (SHGs), he said that the northeastern state has already produced 1.08 lakh 'Lakhpati Didis'.
