WB approves $300m for dev at grassroots level

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Economic Reporter :
The World Bank (WB) has approved $300 million financing to empower the local governments at grassroots level with discretionary funds that would also enable communities decide and implement local development priorities.
Built on the success of two predecessor projects, the Local Governance Support Project-3 (LGSP-3) will cover all the 4550 Union Parishads, the lowest tier of the local government, and benefit around 1 crore 15 lakh residents. The project will establish national budget transfers as a norm to the Union Parishads, a WB press release said.
The project will also expand to the urban local government, and pilot a fiscal transfer system in 16 Pourashavas (municipalities) in all eight divisions of the country. For the first time, the eligible municipalities will receive block grants with discretionary power to select sub-projects aiming to improve service delivery.
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