Rural Development Minister, Jairam Ramesh has said that state governments will get better say in implementing rural development programmes (RDPs). Addressing a function in Mumbai on Sunday, he said, his ministry is planning to introduce flexibility in the implementation of its flagship programmes across the country.

Mr Ramesh said, building roads in rural areas is primarily the responsibility of the state governments. He said, in a phased manner, 50% of the funds earmarked for rural development programmes will be transferred to state governments by the end of this year to implement the schemes as per their requirements, subject to broad guidelines.