Transforming JK: Rs 98 crore allocated for 400 tribal villages under IVDS

A special grant of Rs 98 crore was provided under Integrated Village Development Plan (IVDP) for filling the infrastructure gap in more than 400 tribal villages, apart from the village plan.

The scheme is being implemented by the Tribal Affairs Dept. in coordination with the Rural Development Department and respective district administrations.

Every district formulated IVDP for all villages having more than 500 tribal populations for addressing multidimensional aspects, including water issues, infrastructure issues, agriculture issues, gender issues, and health issues.

The PRIS along with officials identify various issues, including lack of livelihood opportunities, absence of scientific livestock management, poor health care, and improper land use in every village taken up under IVDS.

The IVDPs formulated by field teams in coordination with gram panchayats are approved by the District Planning and Monitoring Committee headed by Deputy Commissioners having members from all line departments.

The State Level apex committee headed by the Chief Secretary approves the plans after screening and recommendation from the Tribal Affairs Department.

The IVDS is focused on building rural capabilities and mechanisms and an end to end strategy which caters to the need for analysis and implementation of the project, along the lines of a participatory approach,” an official said.

The initiative is also meant to create opportunities for gainful self-employment for rural families especially disadvantaged sections, and to ensure sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values.

This is being achieved through development research, effective use of local resources, an extension of appropriate technologies and up gradation of skills and capabilities with community participation.

The plan formulation and village prioritisation was done on 55 different monitorable parameters in 14 different sectors.

These included health and nutrition, drinking water and sanitation, education, housing, livelihood, electric supply, road connectivity,  mobile/internet Connectivity, and farm and non-farm activities.

To train the key functionaries for better implementation of the scheme, the tribal department initiated training programmes for field functionaries involved in the formulation of village development plans.