Financial Management Index for Rural Development

The Rural Development Ministry will soon rank states on efficient management of financial resources allocated for implementing half a dozen rural development schemes. The department has developed a financial management index that will map the performance of states and rank them on the basis of five parameters.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

These include preparation of annual plan, expeditious release of due state share, timely utilization of the funds and submission of the utilization certificates; optimum implementation of public financial management system (PFMS); optimum implementation of DBT module for the rural employment guarantee scheme, internal audit and the social audit.

The budgetary allocation for 2020-21 for the rural development ministry is Rs 1.2 lakh crore with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, taking the bulk of it at Rs 61,500 crore.

However, the allocation to the scheme has later been extended by Rs 40,000 crore during the Covid-19 pandemic to create livelihood opportunities for millions of migrant workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic.

The performance of the States on the parameters of the Index would also promote the spirit of competitive, cooperative federalism amongst States.