Report of the Committee on Restructuring DRDA. - Ministry of Rural ...

staff should not be discriminated in respect <strong>of</strong> emoluments and o<strong>the</strong>r
conditions <strong>of</strong> service.
vi During <strong>the</strong> transition, <strong>the</strong> existing functions <strong>of</strong> DRDAs should not be
upset.
vii State governments may suitably rename <strong>the</strong> DRDAs once <strong>the</strong> DPSU
comes into being.
viii In Sixth Schedule Areas <strong>of</strong> districts, till <strong>the</strong> DPSU is set up, DRDAs may
be permitted to continue as a pr<strong>of</strong>essional group with existing financial
support.
ix Small States / UTs may be given <strong>the</strong> flexibility to have <strong>the</strong> unit at <strong>the</strong>
state level.
x The DRDA Administration Scheme would be wound up by <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> Eleventh Five Year Plan.
8.20 State Specific Modifications
The <strong>Committee</strong> realises that it may not be possible for all States to
recruit <strong>the</strong> same categories <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essionals as suggested by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Committee</strong>.
Similarly, terms and conditions <strong>of</strong> recruitment and service would require
changes in far flung states as well as Island Union Territories. Therefore, it is
suggested that Government <strong>of</strong> India may set up an Empowered <strong>Committee</strong>
with Secretary, Rural Development as Chairperson and consisting <strong>of</strong>
representatives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ministries concerned and <strong>the</strong> Planning Commission and
two or three pr<strong>of</strong>essional experts as required to consider variation proposals
from States and give one time approval.
8.21 Conclusion
The suggested arrangement <strong>of</strong> planning, coordination and integration
<strong>of</strong> all schemes having direct relevance to poverty reduction needs to be
owned up by all <strong>the</strong> Ministries which administer <strong>the</strong> schemes concerned. They
need to clearly empower <strong>the</strong> DPSU and state unit to bring about <strong>the</strong> required
convergence and synergy by amending <strong>the</strong> scheme guidelines appropriately.
Since it is <strong>the</strong> mandate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ministry <strong>of</strong> Rural Development to deal with
poverty related issues, it is in <strong>the</strong> best position to look after and support <strong>the</strong>
functioning <strong>of</strong> state unit and DPSU.
59