Rural development body Capart to be revived: Nitin Gadkari
The body had been dissolved by the previous govt after an investigation into alleged mismanagement
New Delhi: The Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (Capart)—an autonomous body that was under the rural development ministry’s scanner over allegations of mismanagement and allegedly doling out money to fictitious charities—will be revived and infused with fresh funds, rural development minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday, reversing the previous government’s decision to disband it.
“Capart will be restarted and the government will put in new funds" to ensure the body has resources to resume work, Gadkari said.
Gadkari’s predecessor Jairam Ramesh had decided to dissolve Capart after it was found that its functioning was not transparent and most voluntary organizations funded by it had failed to deliver.
On Thursday, Gadkari did not comment when asked if the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s decision to wrap up Capart was ill-considered.
Capart, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, was once claimed to be a major promoter of rural development, assisting over 12,000 voluntary organizations implement a wide range of development initiatives.
Ramesh, however, had been unhappy over the opaque way of its functioning of Capart, which was slammed by critics as a “white elephant". It was under watch for mismanagement and doling out money to fictitious non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Nearly 1,000 NGOs have allegedly looted Capart and some of them have been blacklisted.
In 2013, the UPA government set up the Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) to replace Capart. An independent registered society for charitable purposes, it would facilitate civil society action in collaboration with the government for transforming rural livelihoods and lives, with an emphasis on women, particularly in the central Indian tribal belt.
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