World Bank approves 4 projects in India worth 800 million dollars | India News


NEW DELHI: The World Bank on Wednesday approved four Indian projects worth more than $ 800 million to support development initiatives.
The projects that have been approved are: Chhattisgarh Inclusive Rural and Accelerated Agricultural Growth Project (CHIRAAG); Nagaland: Project to improve teaching and classroom resources; and Project for the Improvement and Rehabilitation of the Second Dam (DRIP-2).
“The projects support a variety of development initiatives: strengthening India’s social protection architecture, promoting nutrition support agriculture for tribal households in Chhattisgarh, enhancing quality education in Nagaland, and improving safety and performance of existing dams in various states of India, “the World Bank said in a statement.
Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India, said the four projects will support India’s efforts to better rebuild by creating a sustainable and resilient economy.
Development work today has an additional responsibility: to help poor and vulnerable families roll back the adverse impact the pandemic has had on their lives, he said.
“These projects will help many of these families access better opportunities for income, education, water supply and benefit from the government’s expanded social protection schemes,” he added.
India’s COVID-19 Social Protection Response Program project for the Second Acceleration of $ 400 million will support India’s efforts to provide social assistance to poor and vulnerable households severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the second operation in a programmatic series of two. The first $ 750 million operation was approved in May 2020. It enabled immediate cash transfers to around 320 million individual bank accounts identified through pre-existing national social protection schemes under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY ) and additional food rations for approximately 800 million people.
The second operation will complement the expansion of India’s safety net programs to create a portable social protection platform that ensures food and cash support for poor households, urban migrants and unorganized sector workers through the state lines, he said.
The $ 250 million Second Dam Improvement and Rehabilitation Project (DRIP-2) will improve the safety and performance of existing dams in various states of India, the World Bank said, adding that it will strengthen the safety of dams. by building safety guidelines for dams; bring global experience; and introduce newer technologies.
Nagaland: Classroom Resources and Teaching Improvement Project ($ 68 million) will improve classroom instruction; create opportunities for professional development of teachers; and building technology systems to give students and teachers greater access to online and blended learning, as well as to allow better monitoring of policies and programs, he said.
According to the release, the $ 100 million CHIRAAG project will develop sustainable production systems that will enable tribal households in remote areas of Chhattisgarh to practice year-round production of diversified and nutritious food.
It will be implemented in the tribal-majority southern region of the state, where a large population is undernourished and poor. The project will benefit more than 180,000 households in some 1,000 villages in eight districts of Chhattisgarh, he added.

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