Inspection panel probe will not impact funding: World Bank

Amaravati: World Bank said the enquiry of inspection panel in Amaravati will not impact the bank funding project preparation activities. According to a press release issued by the AP Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA), the bank said some residents living in the vicinity of the proposed Amravati capital city of Andhra Pradesh have written to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel maintaining that they have been negatively impacted by the process of assembling land for the city, and by activities related to the proposed World Bank-financed Amravati Sustainable Capital City Development Project (ASCCDP).

The World Bank said that inspection panel was an independent mechanism of the World Bank Group aimed at enhancing the accountability of the institution’s development work. Any project-affected individual or group who believes that the World Bank has not complied with its own policies in the preparation or implementation of a World Bank-financed project can approach the panel to voice their concern or grievance, and request an investigation into the matter.

If the Board approves an investigation into the claims of the requestors, the panel will examine the World Bank’s compliance with its institutional policy framework. The panel will then submit a report to the World Bank’s Board. This process is likely to take several months.

“The Inspection Panel process does not affect project preparation or implementation, and that, in the case of the ASCCDP, the bank team will continue to work with the government to strengthen the preparation and design of the bank-financed investments as per the agreed schedule,” the bank said.