The minister, who was inaugurating the four-day national convention on rural industrialisation organised by KVIC in the Capital on Wednesday, said that the district industries centres (DICs), NGOs, self-help groups, regional rural banks and state finance corporations are being involved in the implementation of REGP. Separate funds have been earmarked to each state to achieve employment targets set forth for them each year.

He added that emphasis in the REGP is for setting up viable industries based on bankable projects. All the nationalised banks are being involved in this programme and the Government will provide margin money of 25 per cent to entrepreneurs under the programme. This programme is designed to achieve the target set by theUnion finance minister in his recent budget speech for initiating 100 rural clusters every year under a national programme for rural industrialisation (NPRI). KVIC will develop appropriate marketing infrastructure.

He said that the role and importance of rural non-farm sector, particularly the manufacturing sector, has become very critical. With the absorption capacity of the agriculture sector reaching its zenith and disguised unemployment prevailing in the farm sector, we have to turn to non-farm sector activities in the rural economy for providing gainful and sustainable employment to the ever-increasing labour force in the country. Thus, it becomes all the more imperative to generate the required employment opportunities necessitating creation of alternative avenues of gainful employment in rural areas which in turn would reduce migration of labour force to urban areas.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will deliver the valedictory address on the concluding day. The deputy chairman of the PlanningCommission, KC Pant, will deliver the keynote address. The Union minister for rural areas and employment, Babagouda Patil, finance minister Yashwant Sinha and Justice VR Krishna Aiyer are also amongst the notable speakers. The main theme of the convention is `Production by Masses : Status, Scope and Strategies.

The chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Corporation (KVIC), Mahesh Sharma, said that the action plan for rural industrialisation is being drafted and the convention will provide necessary inputs to the cause. He stated that if the funds available for rural industry programmes with the central agencies like KVIC, Central Social Welfare Board, CAPART, DST, SIDBI, Nabard and other departments are only clubbed together as a well coordinated and integrated programme at appropriate level, the net impact could be much more than it is today.

With a total expenditure of about Rs 1,000 crore on infrastructure and programmes in well-defined 100 rural clusters per year, NPPRI would make a significantimpact. KVIC can be the nucleus or create a National Commission for Rural Industrialisation.

To ensure better quality and higher productivity in rural industry products, a National Coordinated Project on Scientific and Technological Inputs for Rural Industrialisation Programme should be initiated with the involvement of DST, CSIR, AICTE, CAPART and KVIC, said Sharma. Besides, a National Institute for Rural Industrialisation needs to be set up in Wardha and its regionals centres in IITs and IIMs.

He said that KVIC will set up a rural industries marketing corporation, go for branding of products produced by the rural industries and introduce the concept of quality evaluation.