Model Village Resource Center For Backward Areas In Three Months

THE HINDU,
New Delhi, May 10, 2006.

A model village resource Center for backward areas will be set up within three months, Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said here on Tuesday.

Inaugurating a national consultation on Rural Technology and Development and the future of the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), Mr. Singh said the center would be part of the space technology-enabled village resource centers (VRC) programme being developed by the Indian space Research Organization (ISRO).

He called upon scientists to develop technology for the benefit of farmers for skill development and income generation. New technologies for improved production should be made available to farmers, which would be suitable to the different agro- climatic conditions, he said. CAPART should also publicise its new model of development through which the economy of rural areas would not only be strengthened but also be made sustainable through the medium of voluntary institutions, he said.

VRC Programme

The VRC programme, being implemented by the satellite communication programme of ISRO, involves setting up 85 centers for collecting data on land use, wasteland mapping and forest development.

The programme is to focus on making available developmental benefits such as telehealth, teleeducation and emergency communication to rural areas. Started about a year and half ago, this programme is aims to set up 300 centers.

In her presentation, veena S. Rao, director general of CAPART said the effort of the organization would be to draw up model schemes for addressing the problems of critical areas which are responsible for the poor socioeconomic status of rural communities.

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