Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF)

Update: Backward Regions Grants Fund (BRGF) scheme was launched in 2006-07. This scheme has been now de-linked from central support and left to state governments to implement. The BRGF is implemented in 272 backward districts and aims to redress regional imbalances by providing funds for infrastructure projects.

Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF) was launched in 2007 signifying a new approach to addressing persistent regional imbalances in development. This programme absorbed the erstwhile Rashtriya Sama Vikas Yojana (RSVY). This programme covers 272 districts in 27 States, of which 232 districts fall under the purview of Part IX and Part IX-A of the Constitution dealing with the Panchayats and the Municipalities respectively. The remaining 18 districts are covered by other local government structures, such as Autonomous District and Regional Councils under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and state specific arrangements as in the case of Nagaland and the hill areas of Manipur.

Salient Features of BRGF Programme

• The programme was designed to address the regional imbalances in the development by providing the financial resources for supplementing and converging existing development inflows into the identified backward districts. Using these funds these districts can bridge the critical gaps in local infrastructure and other development requirements.
• This programme also aims to provide professional support to local bodies for planning, implementation and monitoring their plans, Improve the performance and delivery of critical functions assigned to Panchayats, and counter possible efficiency and equity losses on account of inadequate local capacity.
• BRGF programme represents a major shift in approach from top-down plans to participative plans prepared from the grassroots level upwards. The Panchayats and the Municipalities have been kept at the centre stage of planning and implementation. Then, no Central funding stream is as ‘untied’ as the BRGF – the funds can be applied to any preference of the Panchayat/ Municipality, so long as it fills a development gap and the identification of the work is decided with people’s participation. Moreover, no other programme spends as much funds, nearly 11 percent of the total allocation, for capacity building and staff provisioning.

National Capability Building Framework

The BRGF has adopted the National Capability Building Framework (the NCBF) which envisages strengthening of institutional arrangements, including the infrastructure as well as software support for capacity building of elected representatives, the functionaries and other stakeholders of PRIs and thereby improving the vigour of grassroots level democracy.