The state secretariat

Patna, June 19: Funds for implementation of Chief Minister Area Development Scheme (CMADS), which aims at striking a regional balance between urban and rural areas of the state, will be released to districts by the end of June.

Tipped as replacement of the local area development scheme that was scrapped this fiscal (2011-12), CMADS would pump in over Rs 300 crore for development work in the districts. Under the local area development scheme, each legislator used to get Rs 1 crore every year for development in their respective constituencies.

While deciding about the schemes under CMADS, district-level committees would have to keep in mind that 85 per cent of the fund would be meant for rural areas and the rest for development work in urban areas. Construction of panchayat bhavans, anganwadi kendras, godowns, community halls, lanes, drains, bus terminus, shed for passengers, public library and others would be done on priority basis under this scheme.

As far as division of funds among districts is concerned, the CMAD scheme guidelines state that area, population and concentration of SC/ST population in a given district would be the parameters on the basis of which districts would get funds. “We would release the funds to the districts latest by the end of this month. Thereafter, committees that would be set up in each district would decide the details of the schemes, which would be implemented using this fund,” a senior state government official told The Telegraph.

The district-level committees would be headed by in-charge ministers. MLAs of Assembly segments in a given district and elected members of the legislative council, whose constituencies fall under the given district, will comprise the committee of a given district. In case of nominated members of the legislative council, they would either be committee members of the district, in which their name figures in the voters’ list or they can select any district in which they want to be a member.

Steps are also being taken to complete formalities for deputing officials for local area engineering organisations (LAEO), which would be entrusted with implementing projects under the CMADS.

“To start with, there would be need of around 2,000 engineers. Modalities to engage such a large number of technical hands is being worked out,” said the official, adding that engineers from different government departments would be likely put on deputation in the LAEO, as fresh appointments would take some time.

Plans are also afoot to depute management graduates in the LAEO and in all likelihood, services of such trained hands will be engaged on contractual basis. “The state government wants the LAEO to be a professionally managed body which would implement projects like private sectors, where strict adherence to timely completion of projects without compromising on quality is the norm. A combination of engineers and management graduates will help in achieving this goal,” the official said.

Apart from implementing projects to be taken up under the CMAD scheme, services of those manning the LAEO would also be used for conducting a benchmark survey to assess the position of districts on the infrastructure front.

“The outcome of benchmark survey would be of great use for the district-level committees, as they would have ready data at their disposal while chalking out schemes for a given district,” said the official. The benchmark-related data would be available from the next fiscal, added the official.