Sultanganj JD(U) MLA Subodh Rai addresses villagers as Nabard development manager Nabin Roy (seated right) looks on. Picture by Amit Kumar

The Nabard’s Bihar regional office has sanctioned Rs 1.8 lakh grant each for 20 villages in Bhagalpur to facilitate community mobilisation, awareness generation and capacity building for a period of three years from the 2012-13 financial year.

The grant is part of the agency’s Phase II of village developmental plan. Twenty villages from seven blocks — five from Bihpur, three each from Kharik and Jagdishpur, four each from Sahkund and Goradih and one from Sabour — have been included under the second phase of the programme.

The villages would benefit through the joint programmes of Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour, government departments and Nabard.

Since last Saturday, Nabard is conducting a participatory rural appraisal exercise through which it is soliciting the support of primary stakeholders to envision a developmental roadmap in each village, sources said.

The exercise also provides Nabard with an opportunity to connect with the villagers and set parameters to be achieved during the implementation period of the programme.

Nabin Roy, the development manager of Nabard, Bhagalpur, took part in the participatory rural appraisal exercise at Khaira village under Sahkund block on Wednesday.

Farmers covered under the system of rice intensification technique for paddy and wheat, villagers and various members of farmers’ club attended the programme.

Sultanganj JD(U) MLA Subodh Rai also reached Khaira to take part in the exercise. Khaira falls under the Sultanganj constituency.

Roy said the broad contours and objectives of the programme and methodology of the participatory rural appraisal exercise were explained to the villagers. The importance of forming village development committees for development was also stressed during the appraisal exercise.

The villagers of Khaira took part in a need identification and ranking exercise, based on which Nabard would formulate an action plan.

The village development committee at its general body meeting would discuss and adopt the action plan, which in turn would be submitted to Nabard, Roy said.

The action plan would also help Nabard to identify gaps in infrastructure and avenues to seek support for filling in the gaps.

Similar participatory rural appraisal exercises have been conducted at Angari, Tardiha and Bharokhar villages in Jagdishpur block and Rampur village in Goradih block since April 21.

The action plan for all five villages is expected to be complete by May 4, said Roy.

“According to the exercise conducted among the villages, Nabard and other developmental agencies would also provide them with need-based additional assistance,” the Nabard official added.

Nabard in its Phase I of the village developmental plan had carried out the same programme in five villages each from Sonhaula block of Bhagalpur district and Katoria block of Banka district.

The programme, which started in 2009, came to an end in March this year.