Time Bound road map for capart should be ready by July 2010 Says Dr. C.P.Joshi 52ND Meeting of Capart Executive Council Inaugurated Emphasis on Convergence of RD Programs

Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Dr. C.P. Joshi has emphasized the need to have a time bound road map for the Council for Advancement of Peoples’ Action and Training (CAPART) by July end this year. This will prepare the agency to carry out the tasks assigned to it by August 15th, . The NGOs identified b y CAPART should give priority to increasing awareness of the rural masses about the various flagship programs under the ministry Of Rural Development and their rights. The focus should be on convergence with the existing RD programs while reaching out to the people. The Minister also asked the CAPART to get its work evaluated by an independent agency for better performance in the times to come. Dr. Joshi was addressing the 52nd Executive Council meeting of CAPART here today.

Dr. Joshi underlined the importance of increasing the awareness of villagers about their rights and entitlements under the various flagship programs of the Ministry and exhorted CAPART to involve NGOs in capacity building of the Panchayati Raj Institutions(PRIs) . He lamented the fact that the rural masses are yet to come to terms with their understanding of provisions under the Schemes of the Government and highlighted the need to train and orient them so that they can be the partners in development. The Minister highlighted the need to have a convergence of different rural development schemes with Mahatma Gandhi NREGA so that the development works in the villages is sustainable and environment friendly.

The Agenda for the 52nd meeting included among others the confirmation of the minutes of previous meeting held on January 25th, 2010, the performance report of CAPART for 2009-10,Administrative matters, Participation in International Fairs, Sustainability support for Technology Resource Centers(TRCs), Establishment of more Technology Resource Centers(TRCs), Review of Young Professional Schemes, Reports of various Sub-Groups, Status of Regional committees in CAPART and Adoption of Integrity Pact in the Functioning of CAPART.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Pradeep Jain “Aditya”, Secretary Rural Development, Shri B.K.Sinha, DG CAPART along with the other Senior Officials from the M/o Rural Development. Following members of the Executive Council attended the deliberations -Shri Alyosius Fernandez from MYRADA, Bangalore; Shri S.Tahir Ali Rizvi, IAS(retd) from Lucknow; Shri Lalit Mathur IAS(retd) from New Delhi; Major S. Chatterjiee Scientific Consultant of Prrincipal Scientific Adviser, New Delhi; Dr. Ravi Chopra, People’s Science Institute Dehra Doon, Shri Ravindra A. , Watershed Support Services and Activities Network (WASSAN); Shri Prathamesh Ambasta, Co-Founder, Samaj Pragati Sahyog Bagli, Madhya Pradesh; Dr. Deep Joshi from Gurgaon(Haryana); Shri Joe Mediath, Executive Director, Gram Vikas from Behrampur, Ganjam (Orissa); Shri Ved Arya, Self- Reliant Initiatives through Joint Action (SRIJAN), New Delhi; Dr.Raman Kataria, Jan Swasthya Sahyog, Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), Dr, Vibha Gupta, Magan Sangrahalya from Wardha (Maharashtra); Prof. Ashvini Kumar, Tata Institute of social Sciences , Mumbai, Shri Rajagopalan from Gandhigram Trust Dindigul (Tamil Nadu), Ms. Nafisa Barot from UTTHAN, Ahmadabad (Gujarat) and Prof. I.V. Trivedi from Vishwas Sangathan, Udaipur (Rajasthan). Shri Mihir Shah , Member Planning Commission was the Special invitee in the meeting. The deliberations are expected to provide a new direction, energy and dynamism to CAPART in reaching out to the rural people..

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AKT/ST/SAK