The Hindu : Front Page : Cabinet nod for continuation of Social and Infrastructure Development Fund

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Friday, Mar 28, 2008
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Cabinet nod for continuation of Social and Infrastructure Development Fund

P.Sunderarajan

To ensure that initiatives do not suffer for lack of funds

Rs. 6,000 crore for the Fund this year
Higher block grant for 7 IITs and IISc, Bangalore

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday gave its nod for continuation of the Social and Infrastructure Development Fund beyond 2007-08. This is to ensure that government initiatives in social and infrastructure development do not suffer for want of funds.

The initiatives taken so far include upgrading 1,396 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), training farmers, employment for the physically challenged, provision of means-cum-merit scholarships, groundwater recharge, insurance for landless households and support to institutes of historical, cultural, economic and agricultural significance.

A government spokesperson said Rs. 6,000 crore would be provided for the Fund this year. It would be augmented as and when necessary.

The Cabinet gave its approval for increasing the block grant for the seven Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore from this fiscal.

It will be over and above the level approved by the Cabinet in June 2005 with an ad hoc amount.

Of the increased amount, Rs.73 crore will be released during 2007-08. The remaining increase of Rs.72.5 crore due — for this financial year — will be released in 2008-09 along with the ad hoc block grant for the year. This increase is aimed at “restoring the financial health” of the IITs and IISc.

In 2005, the government extended the block grant scheme of funding to the new IITs in Guwahati and Roorkee and the three new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode, besides the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi; the National Institutes of Technical Teachers Training and Research in Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Bhopal; the National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai; and the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

Till then, the scheme was applicable only to the five IITs in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur and Kharagpur, the three IIMs in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Kolkata and the IISc, Bangalore.

In 2005, the scheme was modified to provide greater financial and functional autonomy to the institutions covered under it and to encourage them to generate more internal resources and promote innovation.

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