(a) whether the International Monitory Fund (IMF) and World Bank have recently approved loan to India to support poverty alleviation programmes;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the States where this amount is likely to be provided; and
(d) the actual funds likely to be released during the current year, State-wise?
Finance Minister (Shri Jaswant Singh)
(a) The International Monetary Fund does not provide project linked assistance to India to support poverty alleviation programmes. However, poverty alleviation is one of the primary objectives of all World Bank assistance to India. In the last one year some projects which seek to directly attack poverty have been taken up. These are Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project (AP-RPRP) and Chhattisgarh District Rural Poverty Project (C-DRPP).
(b) AP-RPRP involving US $ 150 million assistance from International Development Association (IDA), has been signed on 3rd April, 2003 with the World Bank. It is yet to be declared effective. World Bank has also approved C-DRPP on 24th April, 2003 involving an IDA assistance of $ 112.5 million. The Project Agreements are yet to be signed by the concerned parties. These projects seek to improve opportunities for the rural poor to meet priority social and economic needs through community driven participatory approaches and demand based investment decisions.
(c) The beneficiary/project states are Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
(d) US$ 5 million for the Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project and US$ 5 million for Chhattisgarh District Rural Poverty Project are expected to be released by the World Bank during 2003-04.