Schemes under ministry of Rural Development

INDIA has been a welfare State since independence and the primary objective of all governmental endeavours has been the welfare of its people. The policies and programmes have been designed with the aim of alleviation of rural poverty which has been one of the primary objectives of planned development in India. It was realized that a sustainable strategy of poverty alleviation has to be based on increasing the productive employment opportunities in the process of growth itself. Elimination of poverty, ignorance, diseases and inequality of opportunities and providing a better and higher quality of life were the basic premise upon which all the plans and blue-prints of development were built. 

Rural development implies both the economic betterment of people as well as greater social transformation. In order to provide the rural people with better prospects for economic development, increased participation of people in the rural development programmes, decentralization of planning, better enforcement of land reforms and greater access to credit are envisaged. Initially, main thrust for development was laid on agriculture, industry, communication, education, health and allied sectors but later on it was realized that accelerated development can be provided only if governmental efforts were adequately supplemented by direct and indirect involvement of people at the grass root level. Accordingly, on March 31, 1952, an organization known as Community Projects Administration was set up under the Planning Commission to administer the programmes relating to community development. The Community Development Programme, inaugurated on October 2, 1952, was an important landmark in the history of rural development. This programme underwent many changes and was handled by different Ministries.

 At present ministry of rural development has two departments viz. Dept of rural development and Dept of land resources, which are constantly engaging in Productive employment generation,poverty alleviation,infrastructure development and social security in rural areas. Integrated development of rural areas is one of the abiding tasks before the Government. 

Important Schemes Under ministry:-

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a rights based wage employment programme implemented in rural areas of the country. This programme aims at enhancing livelihood security by providing upto one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. 

Objectives of the Scheme : 

1. providing upto one hundred days of unskilled manual work as a guaranteed employment in a financial year to every household in rural areas as per demand, resulting in creation of productive assets of prescribed quality and durability; 
2. strengthening the livelihood resource base of the poor;
3. proactively ensuring social inclusion; and
4. strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions. 

Outcomes of programme implementation in the Financial Year 2014-15 (till 31st Dec. 2014): 

employment generated in 2014-15, 3.60 crore households were provided employment and 121.25 crore person-days of employment were generated; increasing outreach to the poor and marginalized, the programme had high work participation from marginalized groups like SC/ST (40 per cent), women (56 per cent); and strengthening Natural Resource Base: In 2014-15, 95.14 lakh works were undertaken (spill over + new works), of which 31 per cent for water conservation, 14 per cent for the provision of irrigation facility on land owned by SC/ST/BPL and IAY beneficiaries, 14 per cent for rural connectivity and 6 per cent for land development. 

The Government has taken a series of steps for improving quality of planning, durability of assets, particularly those aimed at enhancing agricultural production and productivity by encouraging convergence and curbing corruption under MGNREGA, such as:- 

(i.) to ensure correct identification of assets through scientific planning, an Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise (IPPE) was launched in 2500 backward blocks in July 2014. This would bring greater participation and scientific methods in planning of works; 

(ii.) a clear ‘Outcome Orientation’ has been brought in the execution of works and measurement of outcomes after execution of work has been made mandatory, since August, 2014; 

(iii.) schedule I to the MGNREG Act, 2005 has been modified on July 21, 2014 providing that at least 60 per cent of the works being taken in a district in terms of cost shall be for creation of productive assets directly linked to agriculture. This measure will create irrigation sources, promote water conservation and improve soil fertility; 

(iv.) in order to allow creation of durable assets, the 60:40 ratio of labour to material will be maintained at the district level instead of block level for the works executed by implementing agencies other than Gram Panchayats;

 (v.) in August 2014, states have been facilitated to engage technical assistants for better technical planning and supervision of works by issuing appropriate guidelines; 

(vi.) guidelines have been issued for watershed management works taken up independently under MGNREGS or in convergence with IWMP; 

(vii.) states have been financially supported to strengthen social audit structures to enhance transparency and accountability; 

(viii.) states have been encouraged to formulate State Convergence Plans (SCPs) to promote convergence of MGNREGA with different schemes. So far 21 such plans have been formulated; 

(ix.) The MGNREGA has also been notified under Direct Benefit Scheme (DBT) for quicker and more transparent disbursement of wages; and 

(x.) The Ministry is also endeavouring to ensure that all Gram Panchayats are brought under Electronic Fund Management System (EFMS) to achieve transparency in fund flow and optimisation of fund utilisation under MGNREGS. 

National Rural Livelihoods Mission 

NRLM is a flagship programme of the Ministry. It seeks to reach out to all rural poor households in the country estimated at 8-10 crore and organize them into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and federations at village and higher levels by 2021-22. 

While doing so, NRLM ensures adequate coverage of all vulnerable sections of the society, indentified through participatory processes and approved by Gram Sabha. A strong convergence with P.R.Is is an important feature of the programme. 

During 2014-15, Aajeevika-NRLM focused on supporting the states in respect of the following: transitioning to NRLM by fulfilling all the requirements;

 i) setting up implementation architecture at state, district and block levels; 

ii) providing comprehensive induction training and capacity building; and 

iii) focusing on increasing capacities of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) 

As of now, 28 states (except Goa) and the Union Territory of Puducherry have transited to NRLM and set up SRLMs. As of January 2015, 20.95 lakh SHGs in 2125 intensive blocks of 316 districts have been promoted. 

The Resource blocks initiated during the year 2012-13 have shown impressive results in terms of quality of community institutions and generation of social capital for scaling up. 

NRLM has focused on special strategies to reach out to the most marginalized and vulnerable communities – Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), the elderly, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), bonded labour, manual scavengers, victims of human trafficking etc. 

During the year, emphasis has also been placed on strengthening the institutional systems in terms of adopting Human Resource Manual, Financial Management Manual and in rolling out interest subvention programme for SHGs, Further 28.5 lakh Mahila Kisans have also been provided livelihood support. 

In order to promote non-farm employment opportunities, the Government has worked out details of a new “Start up village Entrepreneurship Programme” (SVEP), as announced in this year’s budget, which will provide focussed intervention to promote start up entrepreneurship at the village level by rural poor households by providing relevant domain knowledge and skills and assured availability of need based financial support, capacity building, market linkage and advisory services for establishment of sustainable village enterprises.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana 

The Government, in a bid to give better rural connectivity launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in December, 2000 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme to assist the states, though Rural Roads are in the state list as per the Constitution. The primary objective of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is to provide connectivity by way of an All-Weather road (with necessary culverts canel cross-drainage structures, which is operable throughout the year), to the reliable unconnected habitations as per Core Network with a population of 500 persons (as per 2001 census) and above in plan areas. 

In respect of ‘Special Category States’ (North-East, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand), the Desert areas, the Tribal (Schedule V) areas and 88 Selected Tribal and Backward districts as indentified by the Ministry of Home Affairs/Planning Commission, the objective is to connect eligible unconnected habitations as per Core-Network with a population of 250 persons and above (Census 2001). The programme envisages single all weather connectivity.

With a view to ensure full farm-to-market connectivity, the programme also provides for the upgradation of the existing “Through Routes” and Major Rural Links to prescribed standards, through it is not central to the programme. Under PMGSY-II, the projects for upgradation of 11,234 kms roads have been sanctioned against total target of 50,000 kms of such roads. 

Salient Achievements 

An Action Plan for road side plantation under MGNREGA was issued in July, 2014. Thereafter, 

NRRDA and IRC had issued joint guidelines for plantation along rural roads. It is a matter of satisfaction that against a target of 5 lakh plants in 2014-15, 1.02 crore plants have already been planted so far. 

1. The states were permitted to design the bridges so as to serve as bridge-cum-bandhara for conserving the rain water and ensuring recharge of ground water table.
2. In December 2014, Standard Data Book for analysis of Rates for Rural Roads, which is a publication of Indian Roads Construction material for rural roads including new technologies such as waste plastic, modified bitumen, jute/coir geo textile, etc. has been brought out. This document is very useful to engineers working in rural roads sector.
3. The Ministry has been actively encouraging use of locally available construction material as well as new technologies such as waste plastic, fly-ash, cold, mix technology in construction of cost effective rural roads. The new technology (R&D) module on PMGSY software launched in December, 2014 puts in public domain the details of such roads being constructed using new technology. 
4. The Ministry launched a specific complaint/feedback module on PMGSY software in December, 2014, which facilitated the general public to give feedback and post complaints in respect of any road. Each complaint is registered and tracked as per this module. 
5. The National Rural Roads Development Agency (NRRDA) has been recently granted ISO 9001 certification for scrutiny and evaluation of DPRs, quality assurance and quality monitoring system for rural roads and online management, monitoring and accounting system. 

Indira Awas Yojana 

As part of a larger strategy of the Ministry’s poverty eradication effort, Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development, has since inception been providing assistance to the BPL families who are either houseless or having inadequate housing facilities, for constructing a safe and durable shelter. 

The Central Government has been implementing IAY as part of the enabling approach of providing ‘shelter for all’, taking cognizance of the fact that rural housing is one of the major anti- poverty measures for the marginalised. The house is recognized not merely as a shelter and a dwelling place but also as an asset which supports livelihood, symoolizes social position and is also a cultural expression. A good home would be in harmony with the natural environment protecting the household from extreme weather conditions and it would have the required connectivity for mobility and facilities for economic activities. As on December 21, 2014, 8.29 lakh houses have been constructed during the financial year 

In the context of the Government’s priority for housing for all by 2022, it has been decided to revamp the existing Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) and implement it on a mission mode. The toilet shall be an integral part of the unit and also mandatory convergence with other Government schemes is part of the plan, to enable provision of basic facilities like power and drinking water to all beneficiaries. 

House construction in rural areas has been included as a permissible activity under MGNREGA. Unskilled wage component for construction of his/ her house can now compensate the beneficiary, for the forgone wage employment hitherto unaccounted for upto 90 days in normal areas and 95 days in hilly and difficult areas. 

States have been advised to ensure that IAY beneficiaries avail benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). 

National Social Assistance Programme 

Article 41 of the Constitution of India directs the states to provide public assistance to its citizens in case of unemployment, old age, sickness, and disability and also in other cases within the limit of its economic capacity and development. It is in accordance with these noble principles that the Government of India on August 15, 1995 included the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) in the Central Budget for 1995-96. 

The NSAP now comprises :-

1. Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), 
2. Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS), 
3. Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS), 
4. National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and 
5. Annapurna. 

In the year upto December, 2014, ₹ 7,059.29 crore have been released under various schemes of NSAP. 

During 2014-15, revised guidelines for the programme have been issued with following salient features. 

1. Pro-active identification of beneficiaries with central role for Gram Panchayat and Municipalities.
2. States advised to prepare state specific guidelines to take care of variations in implementation strategies and 
3. Social audit by Gram Sabha/Ward Committee to be conducted at least once in six months. 

The implementation of the scheme by way of direct benefit transfer (DBT) has now been extended to 300 districts.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya – Grameen Kaushalya Yojana 

The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is the flagship placement linked skill training programme under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). 

Announced on September 23, 2014, DDU-GKY is a critical component of the National Skill Development Policy, and has an ambitious agenda, to benchmark wage placement-linked skill programmes to global standards and requirements. 

The ultimate aim is to convert India’s demographic surplus into a demographic dividend by developing rural India into a globally preferred source of skilled labour. As a result, the scheme will also benefit more than 55 million poor rural youth who are ready-to- be-skilled, by providing sustainable employment. In this way the scheme is expected to play a crucial role in generational poverty alleviation. DDU-GKY is also designed to be a major contributor to the Prime Minister’s Make in India campaign. 

DDU-GKY is a pioneer in standards-led delivery of skilling in India, the first to notify standard operating procedures for training, and the first to introduce IT solutions for skilling, including mandatory tablets for trainees, Aadhar-linked biometric information on attendance, and geo-tagged time-stamped record of training centres and classes. 

DDU-GKY has its roots in the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). SGSY was formed by the restructuring of the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) in 1999, with a 15 per cent allocation for special projects. In 2010, SGSY was restructured as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), also known as Aajeevika. In May 2013, the 15 per cent allocation was increased to 25 per cent. In September 2013, MoRD’s new guidelines were also notified. This was augmented in July 2014 by the notification of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). On September 5, 2014. Aajeevika Skills was re-named as DDU-GKY with significant new features and improvements. 

Mission 

To reduce poverty by enabling poor for households to access gainful and sustainable employment through employment that provides a regular wage. 

Guiding Principles 

1. There is a strong demand for economic opportunities among the poor, as well as immense opportunities in terms of developing their work abilities. 
2. Social mobilization, as well as a network of strong institutions are essential in order to develop India’s demographic surplus into a dividend. 
3. Quality and standards are paramount in the delivery of skilling, in order to make the rural poor desirable to both Indian and global employers. 

Key Features 

The DDU-GKY is a market-led, placement-linked training program for the rural youth, undertaken through the PPP route by Project Implementing Agencies (PIA). 

PIAs are mandated to assure placement to 75 per cent of candidates trained by them. The focus of these programmes is on the rural youth from poor families, in the age group of 15 to 35 years, belonging to: 

1. MGNREGA worker household in which household members have together completed 15 days of work; 
2. RSBY household; 
3. Antyodaya Anna Yojana card household; 
4. BPL PDS card households; 
5. NRLM-SHG household; and 
6. Household covered under auto inclusion parameters of SECC 2011. 

Full social inclusion of candidates is ensured by the mandatory coverage of socially disadvantaged groups-50 per cent allocation to SC/ST groups, 15 per cent to minorities and 33 per cent for women. 

1. Regional inclusion of candidates is enabled through, a special sub-scheme for the youth of Jammu & Kashmir, called Himayat;
2. a special initiative for the rural youth of poor families in 27 most-affected Left-wing Extremist (LWE) districts across nine states, called Roshni; 
3. A mandated minimum salary of ₹ 6,000 per month for workers who have received placement after a three month training course; 
4. Post-placement support to candidates; 
5. Career progression support to training partners. In allocation of skills projects, primacy is given to Training Partners who can train and support overseas placement and captive placements. 

The programme promotes the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ Campaign through Industry Internships, supported by joint partnerships between industry Interships, supported by joint partnerships between industry and DDU-GKY. 

DDU-GKY is applicable to the entire country. By training holistic, job-ready candidates to simultaneously meet our objectives of economic growth and poverty alleviation under the DDU- GKY strategy, helping industries prosper and grow, not just nationally but on a global level. 

Transparency and accountability through: 

a. Geo-tagged time stamped biometric attendance based on unique ID for trainers and trainees 

b. Online check of inventory available for training in every Training Centre 

c. CCTV and Audio recording of all classroom and lab sessions 

d. Mapping of Project implementing Agencies on the Public Financial Management System for Tracking payments 

e. Reporting of performance on real time basis 

f. Concurrent monitoring process for reliability and validity of the monitoring process 

g. Independent mechanism for project appraisal and project monitoring apart from state level monitoring through designated Technical Support Agencies i.e. the National Institute of Rural Development and the NABCONS. 

Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana 

The Prime Minister launched Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) and also released the guidelines of the Scheme on October 11, 2014, the birth anniversary of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan. 

Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of rural development revolves around creating model villages for transforming ‘swaraj’ into ‘su-raj’. The goal of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is to translate this comprehensive and organic vision of Mahatma Gandhi into reality, keeping in view the present context. 

Far beyond mere infrastructure development, SAGY aims at instilling certain values in the villages and their people so that they get transformed into models for other. These values include: adopting people’s participating as an end in itself – ensuring the involvement of all sections of society in all aspects related to the life of village, especially in decision-making related to governance. 

Salient Features of the Scheme 

1. Aims to develop three Adarsh Grams chosen by MPs, by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024; 
2. Focus on ‘Jan Bhagidar’ (community participation); 
3. Members of Parliament will guide and lead the initiative; 
4. Not an Infrastructure centered scheme; and
5. Holistic Development of the village. 

The Members of Parliament will identify the Gram Panchayat to be developed into Adarsh Gram Panchayat to be developed into Adarsh Gram Panchayat, engage with the community help propagate the values of the scheme, enable the initiation of start-up activities to build up the right environment and facilitate the planning process. 

The Programme is primarily about unleashing people’s power, converging and implementing existing Government Schemes/Programmes and adopting bottom-up approach in planning and execution. While the Members of Parliament will guide and lead the initiative leverage the leadership, capacity, commitment energy of the Members of Parliament (MPs) develop model Gram panchayats. The Role of Members of Parliament is to:- 

1. Identify and select the Gram Panchayat to develop as Adarsh Gram; 
2. Engage with the community in the village and motivate them to take up development activities on their own according to their capacity; 
3. propagate the values of the scheme; 
4. Initiate start-up activities to build up the right environment; 
5. Facilitate the planning process; 
6. Mobilise additional resources to the extent possible, particularly from CSR and Philanthropies; 
7. Monitor the progress periodically and take the lead in sorting out issues and problems; 
8. Proactively facilitate transparency and accountability in the programme implementation and help sort out public grievances; and 
9. Coordinate with the community to achieve the desired, non-tangible outcomes, particularly the social ones. 

Under the Yojana a Village Development Plan would be prepared for every identified Gram Panchayat with special focus on enabling every poor household to come out of poverty, and Villages which have achieved success as Model villages, would be understood. 

Besides there would be convergence of the resources of various Centrally Sponsored and Central Sector Schemes. 

The Key aspects of the Yojana would be Personal Development, Human Development, Social development, Economic development, Environment sustainability, Basic Amenities and Social Security. 

Under the Scheme, 661 Gram Panchayats have been identified by Members of Parliament till February 2015; each state has identified a State Nodal Officer. (SNO) to coordinate all the activities of the programme at the state level; video Conference has been held twice with all District Collectors/District Magistrates and the State Nodal Officers explaining to them the Scheme and urging them to focus on the need to extend support to the Members of Parliament for identification of Adarsh GPs and subsequent implementation of Scheme. 

A comprehensive capacity building plan has been formulated for all relevant stakeholders. Every state/UT has created a State Team of Trainers (STOT), who shall in-turn assist in the Orientation of the Members of Parliament and the Collectors of their states; 29 states/UTs have conducted the State Orientation Programme for Members of Parliament and District Collectors; 10000 copies of guidelines (50000 Nos. each in Hindi and English) have been printed and distributed. The SAGY Guidelines have been translated into seven regional languages (Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu) and made available on the website http://www.saanjhi.gov.in under ‘Guidelines’ Section, SAGY aims at convergence of existing Government Schemes and Programmes. Secretaries of the relevant Ministries/ Departments of the Central Government have been requested by the Ministry of Rural Development to make suitable changes, wherever appropriate, in the guidelines of their respective Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes/ Programmes to enable priority to be given to the Gram Panchayats selected under SAGY. As a part of facilitation of operational Guideline, a booklet containing the Ready Reckoner and Frequently Asked Questions on the programme have been printed and despatched to all Members of Parliament/ Collectors/ State Rural Development Departments. Four Committees have been constituted for overseeing the implementation of the Scheme. Two Committees have been constituted at the National Level, One Headed by Minister, Rural Development. States have been asked to constitute State Level Empowered Committee (SLEC) headed by the Chief Secretary- states/UTs. 

As the district level the District Level Committee would have Collector/ District Magistrate as the Nodal Officer. A Charge Officer will be designated to assist the Collector. Awards are proposed to be given in the following categories: best practices; best charge officers; best district collectors; and best adarsh grams. 

The outputs under each activity would be measured every quarter vis-a-vis the physical and financial targets set out in the Village Development Plans. Further, the core monitorable indicators of the 12th Five Year Plan would be utilised as appropriate. The outcomes will also be tracked from time to time to the extent possible. A mid-term evaluation of performance would be conducted through a competent independent agency. Also a post-project assessment of performance and outcomes would be similarly undertaken. 

Department of Land Reforms 

Watershed Programme 

One of the most important natural resources, upon which all human activity is based since time immemorial, is land. Unprecedented population pressures and demand on scarce land, water and biological resources and the increasing depredation of these resources is affecting the stability and resilience of our ecosystems and the environment as a whole. 

The Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) for development of rainfed/degraded areas including wasteland. The IWMP is one of the flagship programmes of the Government of India which is under implementation since 2009-10 in all the states. The primary objectives of IWMP are harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural resources such as soil, vegetative cover and ground water harvesting and recharging of ground water table; increasing the productivity of crops; introduction of multi-cropping and diverse agro-based activities; promoting sustainable livelihoods, increasing the household incomes etc. 

Under IWMP till December 2014, a total of 8,214 projects covering an area of 39,069 million ha. have been sanctioned in 28 states. An amount of ₹ 2,099.45 crore has been released during 2014-15 (as on December 31, 2014). Since inception of the scheme, an amount of 10,847.02 crores has been released to the states as central share for the projects sanctioned under IWMP. 

Q)which ministry is Organising the integrated watershed development Project?

The National Land Records Modernization Programme 

The Department is implementing National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP). The programme aims at modernizing the land records management system in the country to develop an integrated land information management system with up-to-date and real time land records. To achieve this, two main systems of land records management and registration are proposed to be integrated with the help of modern technology. The major objectives of the programme are to usher in a system of real-time land records; automatic mutation; integration of textual and spatial records; inter-connectivity between land records and registration systems; to achieve the goal of conclusive titling system. 

The ultimate goal of the National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP) is to usher in the system of conclusive titling to replace the current system of presumptive titles expected to be covered under the programme by the end of the 12th Plan.