Why in News?

• The Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) is under implementation across the country (launched in 2016).
• It is a unique programme, designed to deliver catalytic interventions to rural areas on the threshold of growth.

Objective:

• It aims to spur social, economic and infrastructure development in rural areas by developing a cluster of 300 Smart Villages over the next years across the country.

Key features:

• National Rurban Mission(NRM) NRM through development of rurban growth clusters aims at catalyzing overall regional growth for simultaneously benefiting the rural as well as urban areas of the country.
• Envisages institutional arrangements both at the State and Centre in order to ensure smooth implementation of the Mission.
• The State Governments would identify the clusters which have latent potential for growth in accordance with the Framework for Implementation prepared by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
• States government will prepare Integrated Cluster Action Plans for Rurban Clusters. It will be comprehensive plan documents detailing out the strategy for the cluster development.
• The clusters will be geographically contiguous Gram Panchayats with different population and follow administrative convergence units of Gram Panchayats.
• Population Constrains: Coastal and plain areas must have population of about 25000 to 50000. Hilly, desert or tribal areas must have 5000 to 15000.
• There will be a separate approach for selection of clusters in Tribal and Non-Tribal Districts.

Funding Support:

• There is a funding support of up to 30% of the estimated investment for each Rurban cluster, given as Critical Gap Funding (CGF), while 70% of the funds is mobilized by the States through convergence with synergic State and Central programmes and private investment and institutional funding.
• The CGF is now shared between the Centre and the State in a ratio of 60:40 for Plain area States and 90:10 for Himalayan and NE States.