Rs. 2.05 m for alleviating poverty under IRDP - PS Chairman

Stanley Seneviratne, Kurunegala North corr.

KURUNEGALA: "The Kurunegala Pradeshiya Sabha Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) for the year 2007 is to commence early January covering the three Divisional Secretary's divisions of the Pradeshiya Sabha area with the main objective of alleviating of poverty among the rural masses by engaging them in income generating projects and thereby empowerment of rural families and developing and maintaining rural infrastructure".

So said Kurunegala Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Patrick Karunasinghe outlining the Rural Development programme for year 2007 held at the PS auditorium recently.

The Chairman said that through this development project of work it is expected to select groups of people with entrepreneurial skills from poor families and encourage them to engage themselves in income generating activities.

It is also expected to provide technological know how to commence small-scale enterprises, providing marketing facilities to market the produce and provide financial and technological assistance for small-scale entrepreneurs to become large-scale entrepreneurs.

Under this one year development project priority would be given to construction of rural roads which helps promoting the rural economy under the rural infrastructure development and maintenance providing irrigation facilities for agriculture, reconstruction of canals and dams, improving health and sanitary facilities, supplying of drinking water and relevant maintenance work.

It is also expected to give priority to women of low income families, agricultural workers, daily wage earners and unemployed youth, observed Karunasinghe.

He said that it is expected to solve the following problems in the project area when formulating the PS Intergrated Rural Development Programme. Rural road network not suitable and insufficient for transport purpose, absence of drinking water, non-availability of telecommunication facilities, non-availability of rural electricity, lack of permanent housing facilities, low income agricultural families due to dependant agriculture, becoming victims of nourishment deficiencies, owing to non- availability of nourishing food and ignorance about foods, poor paddy harvest and other crops due to non-availability of water and increase in unemployment.

The Chairman also said under this rural development programme remedial action would be taken to improve the rural road network, providing drinking water through shallow wells and rain water harvesting, improving health and sanitary facilities, implementing programmes on nutrition, providing rural electricity, crop diversification, improving marketing facilities, commencement of projects generating employment opportunities, and improving telecommunication services.

Rural level coordination would be done by a steering committee headed by the Chairman consisting of the Divisional Secretary of the PS area, the 124 Grama Niladaris, Samurdhi Development Officers, Agricultural Research and Production Assistants, the relevant works officials of the PS and representatives of beneficiaries, and PS members.

An estimated allocation of Rs. 2.05 million has been provided for the successful implementation of the programme from the PS funds.