Naveen approves Rural-Urban Transition Policy for villages near cities

Bureau,Odishabarta

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has approved Odisha Rural-Urban Transition Policy to provide essential urban infrastructure, amenities and services in villages near cities to narrow down the rural-urban divide.

According to a release issued by Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Monday, the Odisha Rural-Urban Transition Policy under 5T Governance intends to introduce a series of progressive and pragmatic measures to address the unplanned and unregulated urbanisation in the state.

Presently, 19% of Odisha’s population resides in urban areas and is expected to reach 21% by 2031. The growth of census towns or peri-urban areas account for nearly 40% of the urbanisation in the state.

“These peri-urban and rurban areas have been grappling with the challenge of inadequate access to social infrastructure and civic amenities and services even after declaring such areas as urban areas. After intensive consultations with the experts and practitioners, it has come to light that absence of a comprehensive policy and robust institutions to contain unplanned urbanisation is the primary reason for the situation,” said the release.

In order to address this, the Rural-Urban Transition Policy aims at providing urban civic amenities to the people in the identified rural areas much before the areas are formally notified as urban areas.

The policy allows creation of special budget for implementation of infrastructure projects and delivery of services while actively involving the elected representatives, officials, and all other stakeholders in the planning, execution and monitoring of the transition process.

“Under the policy, rural areas will be declared as urban areas when the tenure of the existing elected representatives expires. During the interim period, the notified rural area will be taken up for upgradation of infrastructure and services to provide all urban services on par with the adjacent urban areas. Ward delimitation and other administrative measures will also be put in place during the period so that the area will start functioning as a full-fledged urban area with all facilities from the effective date,” it added.

Steering and implementation committees comprising top officials including chief secretary and experts from various domains will be engaged in the policy. This will ensure convergence of government schemes and inter-departmental coordination for a smooth and seamless transition of the peri-urban and rurban areas into full-fledged urban areas, the release stated.

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