World Bank to give MP $100 mn

The World Bank will soon extend a $100 million soft loan for the second phase of the District Poverty Initiatives Programme in Madhya Pradesh. The first phase has ended in June this year.

The programme aims at empowering disadvantaged groups by putting funds under their direct control. However, the second phase will involve a strategy chalked out by the state government as the Integrated Livelihood Programme.

"The Union Department of Economics has proposed $100 million to the International Development Association, which is part of the World Bank. The first World Bank mission will come to Madhya Pradesh next month," Ravindra Pastore, head DPIP, Madhya Pradesh, told Business Standard.

The IDA extends help to the poorest countries of the world.

The first phase of $125 million has supported 350,000 impoverished families of 3,000 villages through 54,000 common interest groups.

"During the second phase, the Madhya Pradesh government will replicate the DPIP model. A society called the State Livelihood Forum has been registered. The chief minister is the chairman of the forum. The second phase will be implemented through this forum," Pastore said.

The Integrated Livelihood Programme launched by state government recently will involve MP Rural Livelihood Project, Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana, Backward Region Grant Fund scheme and National Employment Guarantee Scheme.

"This new initiative is an effort to iron out shortcomings of the first phase and implement the learning in other words convergence will be done through DPIP but under District Livelihood Forum. Thus the focus will be more on demand-driven exercise rather than target-oriented programmes to alleviate poverty in rural areas," said Pastore.

The state rural development department is working at the strategy, he added. Although primary and secondary sectors will play a major role in poverty alleviation in the second phase market driven strategy like end-to-end solution will help enhance potential in tertiary sector in the state.

To a question that a number of poor people have been left out in the wealth ranking and below poverty line surveys during the first phase, Pastore said, "Convergence was a major weakness of DPIP, the second phase will address the problem. A relook at wealth ranking and up-dated BPL survey is also possible."