Context: National Workshop on Experience Sharing under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission.
About SPMRM:
The Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) is a unique programme, designed to deliver catalytic interventions to rural areas on the threshold of growth.
Funding Support:
- There is a funding support of up to 30% of the estimated investment for each Rurban cluster, given as Critical Gap Funding (CGF), while 70% of the funds is mobilized by the States through convergence with synergic State and Central programmes and private investment and institutional funding.
- The CGF is now shared between the Centre and the State in a ratio of 60:40 for Plain area States and 90:10 for Himalayan and NE States.
Various Provisions:
Provision of basic amenities –
- Provision of 24/7 Water Supply to all households,
- Solid and Liquid Waste Management facilities at the household and cluster level
Provision of Inter and Intra village roads–
- Adequate Street Lights and Public Transport facilities using green technologies.
Provision of Economic Amenities –
- Various thematic areas in the sectors of Agri Services and Processing, Tourism, and Skill development to promote Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.
Mission’s Objective:
The objective of the National Rurban Mission (NRuM) is to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services, and create well planned Rurban clusters.
Need for development of such clusters:
As per Census of India Statistics, the rural population in India stands at 833 million, constituting almost 68% of the total population.
- The rural population has shown a growth of 12% during the 2001-2011 period and there has been an increase in the absolute number of villages during the same period.
- Large parts of rural areas are not stand-alone settlements but part of a cluster of settlements, which are relatively proximate to each other.
- These clusters typically illustrate potential for growth, have economic drivers and derive location and competitive advantages.
- Hence, making a case for concerted policy directives for such clusters; these clusters once developed can then be classified as ‘Rurban’.