INTEGRATED AREA DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FOR THE TRIBAL AREAS OF VISAKHAPATNAM DISTRICT ANDHRA PRADESH

Abstract

For Tribal development, Third Five Year Plan and Fourth Five Year Plan was not done at gross root level. Realization of the imbalance in development within tribal areas and in comparison, with outside areas necessitated the evolving of a new strategy in the Fifth Five Year Plan called INTEGRATED AREA DEVELOPMENT PLAN. For the purpose of preparing plans, areas are to be carved out with existing Tribal Development Blocks as primary unit of planning called MICRO AREA and a number of geographically contiguous Tribal Development Blocks and other areas having more than fifty percent concentration grouped into a MESO PLANNING REGION. As a result of the State wide exercise, 5 Meso regions have been identified of which Visakhapatnam tribal area is the largest and most compact. For detailed analysis and preparation of perspective plan in various spheres of socio-economic activity of the project area such as agriculture, industry, social facilities and transportation. The expenditure on tribal welfare schemes in the project area since II Plan period onwards was as follows; II plan Rs. 53.64 lakhs, III plan Rs. 63.37 lakhs, Annual Plans Rs. 82.05 lakhs and IV Plan Rs. 115.35 lakhs. There has been gradual increase in the investment over the three plan periods during the past 18 years. As a result of the implementation of a multi-sided programme of development, various services have come into existence in the project area. All the selected villages in the 8 tribal development Blocks were arranged in the ascending order of their population and presence or absence of each function was noted. The recommendations made in the plan fall under the following broad categories: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Industries, Social facilities and Transportation. Once implemented these programmes will bring about an Integrated Development of the Project Area in all the 5 sectors. The plan envisages two types of integration in its overall strategy. The spatial model employed for achieving these two levels of integration is based on carefully selected basic units of planning at various hierarchic levels. Agriculture is the main sector of the area. As irrigation is the most important variable in increasing the production, all the investigated minor irrigation works are proposed to be completed within the V Five Year Plan, these are pan in outline in the project. The social service programmes like education and health are mainly evolving on the basis of minimum needs programmes especially for evolving programmes for Fifth Five Year Plan, these are perspective for development in the project area. Agriculture programmes strategy and planning also mentioned in this report. Various implemented projects like Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Industries, Communications, Marketing, Credit, Education details were discussed in this project. These Meso-level programmes are suggested on a selective basis for the location taking into centers.