Agricultural Development Programmes

S.No.	Agricultural Development Programme	Year of Beginning	Objective/Description
1	Intensive Agriculture Development Program (IADP)	1960	To provide loan , seeds , fertilizer tools to the farmers.
2	Intensive Agriculture Area Program (IAAP)	1964	To develop the special harvest.
3	High Yielding Variety Program (HYVP)	1966	To increase productivity of foodgrains by adopting latest varieties of inputs for crops.
4	Green Revolution	1966	To increase the foodrains , specially food production.
5	Nationalization of 4 banks	1969	To provide loans for agriculture , rural development and other priority sector.
6	Marginal Farmer and Agriculture Labor Agency (MFALA)	1973	For technical and financial assistance to marginal and small farmer and agricultural labor.
7	Small Farmer Development Agency (SFDA)	1974	For technical and financial assistance to small farmers.
8	Farmer Agriculture Service Centres (FASC)	1983	To popularize the use of improved agricultural instruments and tool kits.
9	Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme	1985	For insurance of agricultural crops.
10	Agricultural and Rural Debt Relief Scheme (ARDRS)	1990	To exempt bank loans upto Rs. 10,000 of rural artisans and weaver.
11	Intensive Cotton Development Programme (ICDP)	2000	To enhance the production, per unit area through (a) technology transfer, (b) supply of quality seeds, (c) elevating IPM activities/ and (d) providing adequate and timely supply of inputs to the farmers .
12	Minikit Programme for Rice, Wheat & Coarse Cereals	1974	To increase the productivity by popularising the use of newly released hybrid/high yielding varieties and spread the area coverage under location specific high yielding varieties/hybrids.
13	Accelerated Maize Development Programme (AMDP)	1995	To increase maize production and productivity in the country from 10 million tonnes to 11.44 million tonnes and from 1.5 tonnes/hectare to 1.80 tonnes/hectare respectively upto the terminal year of 9th Plan i.e. 2001-2002 (revised).
14	National Pulses Development Project (NPDP)	1986	To increase the production of pulses in the country to achieve self sufficiency.
15	Oil Palm Development Programme (OPDP)	1992	To promote oil palm cultivation in the country.
16	National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils development Board (NOVOD)	1984	The main functions of the NOVOD Board are very comprehensive and cover the entire gamut of activities associated with the oil seeds and vegetable oil industry including – production, marketing, trade, storage, processing, research and development, financing and advisory role to the formulation of integrated policy and programme of development of oil seeds and vegetable oil.
17	Coconut Development Board	1981	To increase production and productivity of coconut To bring additional area under coconut in potential  non-traditional areas To develop new technologies for product  diversification and by-product utilisation To strengthen mechanism for transfer of technologies To elevate the income level of small and marginal farmers engaged in coconut cultivation. To build up sound information basis for coconut industry and market information To generate ample employment opportunities in the rural sector.
18	Watershed Development Council (WDC)	1983	Central Sector Scheme(HQ Scheme)

Poverty Alleviation Programmes

The fruits of economic growth have not benefited everyone uniformly. Some are left behind and some others are not touched by the benefits of economic growth. It is proved globally that the so-called trickle-down effect does not work in all the societies and India is no exception to this. There are various reasons for this uneven development in the society. Modern economy is technology driven and not labour-intensive.

High volume of high quality goods and services are produced with fewer labour hands. In short, the modern economy is not generating much employment and sometimes it displaces and replaces labour with machines and tools. The period of 1999-2000 to 2004- 2005 saw rapid economic growth in the country but it has not impacted on the unemployment problem of the country. During this period, the unemployment rate remained almost same for rural males and decreased by just one percentage for urban male. On the other hand, unemployment among females increased by one percentage for urban and rural females.

One-third of the country’s population is still illiterate and a majority are not educated up to the age of 15 years. Even among the educated, all do not have employable skills of the modern economy. The education system is not tuned to the changing economic scenario. The large agriculture workforce in rural areas is not sustainable with dwindling cultivable land and use of modern methods of cultivation. As a result, the rural labour is pushed into cities in search of work but they do not have any employable skills in the urban formal sector often end up doing odd jobs in urban areas.

Urbanization in this country is mainly due to acute poverty in rural areas, rather than due to the economic opportunities in urban areas. Further, poverty is not uniformly spread in the country. States like Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have high level of poverty and the levels have not come down significantly in the post-economic reform era.

It is also pertinent to understand that some of the people are unable to be part of the economic reform and do not have the capacity to participate in the economic development process. Such groups need government intervention to ensure that they are not left behind in the development process and deprived of the benefits because they do not have the capacity to be part of the global economy. The government needs to develop safety nets for such groups and try to mainstream them in the development process. They need welfare measures in the form of poverty alleviation programmes to ensure that they survive, if not prosper, in this era of economic reform. Further, the poor are not a homogeneous population and their capacity to survive the economic reform varied from one group of poor to another. Especially, those who are below the poverty line or the poorest among the poor need more government help.

The government of India's poverty alleviation programmes can be broadly classified under five categories: (a) Self-employment programmes like the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana; (b) Wage-employment programmes like the Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana and the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme; (c) Area development programmes like Drought Prone Area Programmes and the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana; (d) Social security programmes like the National Old Age Pension Scheme; (e) Other programmes like the Indira Awaas Yojana.

Self-employment programmes
Self-employment programmes were introduced at the national level in the late 1970s. Initially, the programmes were designed to provide skills, subsidized credit and infrastructure support to small farmers and agricultural labourers so that they could find new sources of income.

In the 1980s, the focus of the self-employment programmes was extended to cover target groups such as scheduled castes and tribes, women and rural artisans. The coverage also extended to specific areas such as animal husbandry, forestry and fishery.

The largest of these programmes was the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). According to a mid-term appraisal of the Ninth Plan done by the Planning Commission, the IRDP suffered from several defects including: sub-critical investment, unviable projects, illiterate and unskilled beneficiaries with no experience in managing an enterprise, indifferent delivery of credit by banks, overcrowding of lending in certain projects such as dairy, under-emphasis on activities like trading, service and even simple processing, poor targeting and selection of non-poor, rising indebtedness, and scale of IRDP outstripping capacity of government and banks.

Other self-employment programmes suffered from similar deficiencies.

In 1999, several self-employment programmes were integrated into the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY). The key feature of the SGSY is that it does not seek to promote individual economic activities. It seeks to promote self-help groups that are trained in specific skills so they can formulate microenterprise proposals. Such projects are based on activities that are identified for each block on the basis of local resources, skills and markets. The projects are supported by bank credit and government subsidies.

While the SGSY is implemented by district rural development agencies through panchayat samitis, NGOs are expected to play a major role in the success of the programme.

Wage-employment programmes
The first major wage-employment programme was introduced in the 1960s to provide employment to the rural unemployed particularly during the lean agricultural season.

Subsequently, several wage-employment programmes were launched by the Central and State governments. The largest of these was the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY), which was redesigned in 1999 as the Jawahar Gram Samridhhi Yojana (JGSY).

Other notable schemes were: the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS), and the Employment Guarantee Scheme of the Maharashtra government.

According to a mid-term appraisal of the Ninth Plan done by the Planning Commission, the JRY suffered from the following defects: Provided inadequate employment (only 11 days as per concurrent evaluation); Resources were spread too thin; Violation of material-labour norms and corruption (fudging of muster rolls); Projects were executed by contractors who sometimes hired outside labourers at lower wages.

There were similar deficiencies in the EAS.

In 2001, the JGSY and EAS were merged to form the Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana (SGRY). The objective of the scheme is to provide additional wage employment with food security in rural areas. Beneficiaries are temporarily employed to build community assets and infrastructure. The cost of the scheme, which includes the distribution of foodgrain, is shared by the Central and State governments in a ratio of 87.5:12.5.

In August 2005, the Indian Parliament passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), one of independent India’s most ambitious interventions to address rural poverty and empower poor people.

The NREGA follows a set of legally enforceable employment norms. Its aim is to end food insecurity, empower village communities, and create useful assets in rural areas. It is based on the assumption that every adult has a right to basic employment opportunities at the statutory minimum wage.

Under the scheme, one member of every poor rural family is guaranteed 100 days of work at the minimum wage of Rs 60 a day. All rural poor are eligible, not just those designated below the poverty line (BPL). One-third of the beneficiaries must be women. If five or more children accompany their mothers to any site, the implementing authority must appoint a woman to look after them on the site.

Panchayats at district, intermediate and village levels will identify and monitor the project, together with a programme officer. Social audits of the work will be available at gram sabhas. Work will, as far as possible, be provided within a radius of 5 km.

The work to be undertaken will be public works such as water harvesting, drought-proofing, micro and macro irrigation works, renovation of traditional water bodies, flood control barriers and rural connectivity.

Medical costs necessitated by injuries at work will be borne by the implementing authority.

Area development programmes
Drought Prone Area Programmes (DPAP), Desert Development Programmes (DDP), Hilly Area Development Programmes and Tribal Area Development Programmes were introduced in the 1970s to prevent environmental degradation and provide employment to the poor in these regions.

In the mid-‘90s, the environment management aspect of these programmes was strengthened by the introduction of watershed development programmes.

Currently, several Central government, State government and non-government watershed development programmes are being implemented.

The government has mooted a “single national initiative” under the National Watershed Development Projects for Rain-fed Areas (NWDPRA) programme. A new Department of Land Resources has been created by merging all area development programmes with the Department of Wasteland Development.
The Tenth Plan has a new scheme called the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana(RSVY) to tackle the problem of extreme deprivation in backward pockets of the country.

Started with an outlay of Rs 2,500 crore for 2002-03, the RSVY aims to promote focused developmental programmes for backward areas that would help reduce imbalances, speed up development and help backward areas overcome poverty. The programme also aims to encourage states to take up productivity-enhancing reforms.

Social security programmes
Social security programmes were launched, at the national level, in the 1980s with an old age pension scheme. Currently, there are four major national social security schemes:
—National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), which provides a pension to people above the age of 65 with no source of income or financial support.
—National Family Benefit Scheme, which provides Rs 10,000 to families living below the poverty line when their main earning member dies.
—National Maternity Benefit Scheme, which provides Rs 500 to pregnant women of families living below the poverty line.
—Rural Group Insurance Scheme, which provides a maximum life insurance of Rs 5,000 covering the main earning members of families living below the poverty line on a group insurance basis; the government pays half the premium of Rs 50-Rs 70.

Other programmes
The largest of the 'other' programmes is the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), which provides houses free of cost to below the poverty line scheduled caste and scheduled tribe families living in rural areas. Recently, several other poverty alleviation programmes have been launched, including Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana, which provides additional funds to States so that they can provide basic minimum services such as primary health, primary education and drinking water.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana there are two schemes, Gramin Awas for rural shelter and the Rural Drinking Water Project for water conservation in DPAP and DDP programme areas.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, launched in December 2000, to provide road connectivity to 1.6 lakh remote habitations with a population of over 500 by the end of the Tenth Plan period

Antyodaya Anna Yojana, launched in December 2001, to provide 25 kg of foodgrain at highly subsidized rates to 100 million of India's poorest families living below the poverty line. In 2002, around 24 lakh tonnes of foodgrain were provided by the central government under this scheme.

The Annapurna Scheme to provide 10 kg of foodgrain per month free of cost to persons who are eligible for pension under the NOAPS but haven’t received any.

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna:
 This programme was launched in April, 1999. This is a holistic programme covering all aspects of self employment such as organisation of the poor into self help groups, training, credit, technology, infrastructure and marketing.

The objective of SGSY is to provide sustainable income to the rural poor. The programme aims at establishing a large number of micro-enterprises in the rural areas, based upon the potential of the rural poor. It is envisaged that every family assisted under SGSY will be brought above the poverty-line with in a period of three years.

This programme covers families below poverty line in rural areas of the country. Within this target group, special safeguards have been provided by reserving 50% of benefits for SCs/STs, 40% for women and 3% for physically handicapped persons. Subject to the availability of the funds, it is proposed to cover 30% of the rural poor in each block in the next 5 years.

SGSY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and funding is shared by the Central and State Governments in the ratio of 75:25 respectively.

SGSY is a Credit-cum-Subsidy programme. It covers all aspects of self-employment, such as organisation of the poor into self-help groups, training, credit technology, infrastructure and marketing. Efforts would be made to involve women members in each self-help group. SGSY lays emphasis on activity clusters. Four-five activities will be identified for each block with the approval of Panchayat Samities. The Gram sabha will authenticate the list of families below the poverty line identified in BPL census. Identification of individual families suitable for each key activity will be made through a participatory process. Closer attention will be paid on skill development of the beneficiaries, known as swarozgaris, and their technology and marketing needs.

Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojna:
 The critical importance of rural infrastructure in the development of village economy is well known. A number of steps have been initiated by the Central as well as the State Governments for building the rural infrastructure. The public works programme have also contributed significantly in this direction.

Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojna (JGSY) is the restructured, streamlined and comprehensive version of the erstwhile Jawahar Rozagar Yojana. Designed to improve the quality of life of the poor, JGSY has been launched on 1st April, 1999. The primary objective of the JGSY is the creation of demand driven community village infrastructure including durable assets at the village level and assets to enable the rural poor to increase the opportunities for sustained employment. The secondary objective is the generation of supplementary employment for the unemployed poor in the rural areas. The wage employment under the programme shall be given to Below Poverty Line(BPL) families.

JGSY is implemented entirely at the village Panchayat level. Village Panchayat is the sole authority for preparation of the Annual Plan and its implementation.

The programme is implemented as Centrally Sponsored Scheme on cost sharing basis between the Centre and the State in the ratio of 75:25 respectively.

The programme is to be implemented by the Village Panchayats with the approval of Gram sabha. No other administrative or technical approval is required.

Indira Aawas Yojna:
 IAY is the flagship rural housing scheme which is being implemented by the Government of India with an aim of providing shelter to the poor below poverty line. The Government of India has decided that allocation of funds under IAY will be on the basis of poverty ratio and housing shortage.

The objective of IAY is primarily to help construction of new dwelling units as well as conversion of unserviceable kutcha houses into pucca/semi-pucca by members of SC/STs, freed bonded labourers and also non-SC/ST rural poor below the poverty line by extending them grant-in-aid.

IAY is a beneficiary-oriented programme aimed at providing houses for SC/ST households who are victims of atrocities, households headed by widows/unmarried women and SC/ST households who are below the poverty line. This scheme has been in effect from 1st April, 1999.

IAY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme funded on cost sharing basis between the government of India and the States in the ratio of 75:25 respectively.

Grant of Rs. 20,000 per unit is provided in the plain areas and Rs. 22,000 in hilly/difficult areas for the construction of a house. For conversion of a kutcha house into in pucca house, Rs. 10,000 is provided. Sanitary laterines and chulahs are integral part of the house. In construction/upgradation of the house, cost effective and environment friendly technologies, materials and designs are encouraged. The household is allotted in the name of a female member of beneficiary household.

DRDA Administration: 
District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) has traditionally been the principal organ at the District level to oversee the implementation of the anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. Created originally for implementation of Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), the DRDAs were subsequently entrusted with a number of programmes, both of the Central and State governments. Since inception, the administrative costs of the DRDA (District Rural Development Agency) were met by setting aside a part of the allocations for each programme. Of late, the number of programmes had increased and several programmes have been restructured with a view to making them more effective. While an indicative staffing structure was provided to the DRDAs, experience showed that there was no uniformity in the staffing structure. It is in this context that a new centrally sponsored scheme—DRDA Administration—was introduced from April 1, 1999, based on the recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee known as Shankar Committee. The new scheme replaced the earlier practice of allocating percentage of programme funds to the administrative costs.

The objective of the scheme of DRDA (District Rural Development Agency) Administration is to strengthen the DRDAs and to make them more professional and effective. Under the scheme, DRDA is visualised as specialised agency capable of managing anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry on the one hand and effectively relate these to the overall efforts of poverty eradication in the district on the other.

The funding pattern of the programme is in the ratio of 75:25 between the Centre and the States.

The DRDA will continue to watch over and ensure effective utilisation of the funds intended for anti-poverty programmes. It will need to develop distinctive capabilities for poverty eradication. It will perform tasks which are different from Panchayati Raj Institutions and line departments. The DRDAs would deal only with the anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. If DRDAs are to be entrusted with programmes of other Ministries or those of the State Governments, it must be ensured that these have a definite anti-poverty focus. In respect of such States where DRDA does not have a separate identity and separate accounts.

Basic Minimum Services:
 The Government of India launched this scheme in 1997 incorporating seven vital services of importance to common people. The State Government has opted to provide shelter to shelter-less below poverty line under this scheme.

The objective of providing this scheme is to supplement the constitution of dwelling units for members of SC/ST, freed bonded labour and also non-SC/ST rural poor below the poverty line by providing them with grant.

The Central government provides additional funds for Basic Minimum Services subject to the condition that the State government will provide 15% of the required funds.

Additional Indira Awas are being constructed with the guidelines analogous to that for the Awas Yojana. The salient features are:
—Rs. 20,000 is provided to the beneficiaries for construction of the houses in phases. Sanitary latrines and smokeless chulah are integral part of the houses.
—Houses are allotted in the name of female members of the family or in joint names of both spouses.
—Selection of construction technology, materials and design is left entirely to the choice of beneficiaries. Contractors, Middlemen or the Departmental Agencies have no role in the construction of houses.
—Cost effective and environment friendly housing technologies/design and materials are provided.
  
Drought-Prone Areas Programme:
 The Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) aims at mitigating the adverse effects of drought on the production of crops and livestock and productivity of land, water and human resources. It strives to encourage restoration of ecological balance and seeks to improve the economic and social conditions of the poor and the disadvantaged sections of the rural community.

DPAP is a people's programme with government assistance. There is a special arrangement for maintenance of assets and social audit by Panchayati Raj Institutions. Development of all categories of land belonging to Gram Panchayats, Government and individuals fall within the limits of the selected watersheds for development.

Allocation is to be shared equally by the Centre and State government on 75:25 basis. Watershed community is to contribute for maintenance of assets created. Utilisation of 50% of allocation under the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) is for the watershed development. Funds are directly released to Zila Parishads/District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) to sanction projects and release funds to Watershed Committees and Project Implementation Agencies.

Village community, including self-help/user groups, undertake area development by planning and implementation of projects on watershed basis through Watershed Associations and Watershed Committees constituted from among themselves. The Government supplements their work by creating social awareness, imparting training and providing technical support through project implementation agencies.
 
Credit-cum-Subsidy Scheme for Rural Housing:
 There were a large number of households in the rural areas which could not be covered under the IAY, as either they do not fall into the range of eligibility or due to the limits imposed by the available budget. On the other hand due to limited repayment capacity, these rural households cannot take benefit of fully loan based schemes offered by some of the housing finance institutions. The need of this majority can be met through a scheme which is part credit and part subsidy based.

The objective of this scheme for rural housing is to facilitate construction of houses for rural families who have some repayment capacity. The scheme aims at eradicating shelter-lessness from the rural area of the country.

The scheme provides shelter to rural families who have not been coveted under IAY and who are desirous of possessing a house. All rural households having annual income up to Rs. 32,000 are covered under this scheme.

The funds are shared by the Centre and the State in the ratio of 75:25, respectively.

Poor just above the poverty line are entitled to get the benefits of the scheme. A maximum subsidy of Rs. 10,000 per unit is provided for the construction of a house. Sanitary latrine and smokeless chulha are integral part of the house. Cost effective and environment friendly technologies, materials, designs, etc. are encouraged. Sixty per cent (60%) of the houses are allocated to SC/ST rural poor.

Appraisal of Anti-poverty programmes
On review of all the poverty alleviation programmes, one gets the impression that these programmes are not benefiting the poor in terms of increasing their income. For example, the PDS is plagued with seepage, corruption, high administrative cost and targeting errors. Self-employment are better utilized by the non-poor or those who are above BPL. Wage employment programme is caught in red-tapism and administrative delays leading to poor utilization of the allocated funds. All these factors have been used by some economists to argue against these programmes and to suggest the winding up the programmes.

Looking at purely narrow economic point of view is not the right approach to poverty alleviation. Poverty does not mean not having enough income alone. Poverty means not having access to a whole lot of services like education, health services, water supply, sanitation and so on. It also means loss of status in the community, exclusion from certain social functions, and a sense of inferiority in the group or community. In short, poverty means marginalization of an individual or household in the community.

There is no denial that poverty alleviation programmes should lead to high income to the poor, but to come out of the culture of poverty, one needs to be empowered and also requires access to basic services. While some of the poverty alleviation programmes may not be performing well in terms of utilizing the allocated funds and increasing the income of the poor, these programmes have contributed to the social arena of poverty. For example, wage employment programme was not very successful in terms of utilizing the allocated resources and generating additional employment for the BPL. But this programme has created village level assets and infrastructure in terms of schools, health centers, roads and ponds.

Similarly, Self-help Groups (SHGs) formed by the women has given them tremendous confidence and empowered them to become entrepreneurs. Today, SHGs are not only active in creating micro-enterprises but also they are involved in implementing community programmes like immunization programmes, literacy programmes and so on. Some of them have empowered to the level of contesting panchayat elections and become members of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI). Again, there is no denial that all these cannot be achieved without an increase in income. Therefore, the economic and social aspects of poverty alleviation are interlinked to one another. Economic upliftment alone cannot alleviate poverty but it must lead to social upliftment in terms of access to services, empowerment and independence. Therefore, the current poverty alleviation programmes in the country should broaden their focus and goal in addition to increasing income to achieve the target of removing poverty from the country.

Also, involvement of the local communities is key to the success of poverty alleviation programmes. In the absence of community involvement, the programmes are plagued with bureaucratic muddle and corruption at every level. Unfortunately, States still lag behind handing over these programmes to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). While PRIs are created in most of the States and elections are held, these institutions are not given the financial resources, administrative powers and the capacity to run programmes. State governments still hold the financial powers and the PRI is not in a position to plan and decide based on their needs. The administrative machinery of the PRI is very week to carry out these national level programmes. Also, the PRI does not have the capacity to handle resources and technical capacity to implement programmes. These issues have to be addressed immediately to strengthen PRI to implement poverty alleviation programmes.

Apart from decentralization and community involvement, participation of the poor in the programme that affects their welfare, is important. Some of the self-employment schemes failed to take off because no effort was made to involve the poor in identifying the skills which they can learn easily. Some of the skills imbibed may not have job potential in the community. On the positive side, micro-enterprise under the self-employment programme was successful because of the role of SHGs. The SHG members actively participated in the whole process and decided for themselves for the kind of skills they wanted to learn and also the kind of credit they needed from the bank to start the microenterprise. Many well-intentioned programmes fail to take off because of lack of understanding of the ground realities due to lack of participation of the beneficiaries.

At the macro-level, there is a need to co-ordinate a myriad of poverty alleviation programmes of the central government and the State governments. The transfer of central funds to the States for different programmes should be efficient. Currently, such funds and goods like foodgrains are not fully utilized by the States. There is a need to strengthen the financial management capacity of certain States to use the funds efficiently. These are the States where the percentage of the BPL is more than the national average.

Poverty is more of social marginalization of an individual, household or group in the community/society rather than inadequacy of income to fulfill the basic needs. Indeed, inadequate income is one of the factors of marginalization, but not the sole factor. The poverty alleviation programmes should not aim merely to increase the income level of individual, household or group, but mainstreaming marginalized in the development process of the country.

Providing More Employment to Women in Textile Sector

Ministry of Women and Child Development, under the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) (a Centrally Sponsored Scheme), is in the process of setting up State Resource Centres for Women (SRCW) in all States and Union Territories to carry out activities of the Mission including convergence between Ministries and Departments of Central and State Governments on women`s issues. The Mission is mandated to pilot convergence and facilitation centres for women in the village, block and district levels in 32 selected districts across the country to demonstrate convergence. However, there is no specific plan for linking with institutions in the textile sector.

Nirmal Bharat: Total sanitation for all

                          "Sanitation is more important than Independence."

                                                                                           - Mahatma Gandhi

Sanitation literally denotes measures significant for improving and protecting health and well-being of the people. It is a system that promotes appropriate disposal of human wastes, proper use of toilets and discourages open space defecation. It is hard to imagine life without toilets for us but it is a reality for approximately 2.6 billion people in the world. An estimated 40 per cent of world's population still do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. It has been often seen that lack of sanitation facilities are main cause of some of the life-threatening diseases. Hence, sanitation facilities are often related to one of the key elements in sustaining human lives.

Importance of sanitation and WHO
Emphasising the relative importance, father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi had once said, "Sanitation is more important than Independence." India has done a commendable job in improving the sanitation facilities and providing clean drinking water to all.
India has acknowledged the fact that sanitation is a cornerstone in the well-being of a person as unsanitary surroundings form the base for spread of numerous diseases. The World Health Organisation (WHO) observes that polluted water is the root cause of 80 per cent diseases, a result of inadequate sanitation and sewage disposal methods. A huge number of people even today relieve themselves in the open contaminating water bodies and other natural resources. This shows that people need to be educated on the importance of sanitation and its use in rural and urban areas alike. Inadequate sanitation facilities and lack of awareness often result in a number of health problems such as intestinal worms, most commonly the human roundworm and the human hookworms. Occurrence of these diseases is generally very high in low-income semi-urban and rural areas. Therefore, sanitation is the basic infrastructure component that could contain excreta-related diseases.
The Central and State governments have now increased activities and funding to achieve the sanitation MDG (Millennium Development Goal) target. Water supply and sanitation is a State responsibility under the Constitution of India and following the 73^rd and 74^th Constitutional amendments, the States give the responsibility and powers to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to implement them.

Towards Nirmal Bharat: Vision and Strategy
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation  has formulated the Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy for the period of 2012 to 2022. The main purpose of this strategy is to provide a framework to realize the vision of Nirmal Bharat, an environment that is clean and healthy.
A Nirmal Bharat  is a dream of clean and healthy nation that thrives and contributes to the welfare of our people. This vision seeks to visualize a nation in which the traditional habit of open defecation is entirely eliminated, the worth of every human being is respected, and quality of life is improved. To achieve this in rural areas, the department has following strategies and goals to meet in coming years.

• Completely eliminating the traditional habit of open defecation and making this a relic of the past.
• Operationalizing systems for the safe management of solid and liquid waste at scale.
• Promoting the adoption of improved hygiene behaviours.
• Addressing inequalities in access with special attention to vulnerable groups such as women, children, aged and disabled.
• Ensuring that providers have the capacity and resources to deliver services at scale.
• Stimulating and enabling cooperation across public sector agencies concerned with rural development, health, environment and vulnerable sections.
• Working with business, academic and voluntary partners to achieve the goals of the strategy.

Goals

• Creation of Totally Sanitized Environments - By 2017: The end of open defecation and achievement of a clean environment where human faecal waste is safely contained and disposed.
• Adoption of Improved Hygiene Practices - By 2020: All people in the rural areas, especially children and caregivers, adopt safe hygiene practices during all times.
• Solid and Liquid Waste Management - By 2022: Effective management of solid and liquid waste such that the village environment is kept clean at all times.

Report

Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy (2012-2022)

Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC)

The Central Rural Sanitation Programme of the Indian government began in 1986. It has now evolved into the Total Sanitation Campaign  (TSC) which operates in various districts of States and Union Territories. TSC successfully encourages households to finance their own toilets while giving financial incentives to the underprivileged. A nationwide network of Rural Sanitary Marts and Production Centres has been established with government funds though they are run primarily by local governance, NGOs and community based organisations. These Marts and Production Centres provide the materials required for construction of sanitary latrines and other facilities. The outlets also serve as counseling centres for those interested in building a toilet on their own. This has boosted the supply chain, promoting sanitation and hygiene, catering to an estimated 138 million rural households in the country.
Lessons from three decades of a government-driven programme suggest that visionary policies and a strong institutional setting helped in reaching more households without toilets. Although progress has happened, models in West Bengal, Maharashtra and other places show how informed strategies, strong peoples participation and strong monitoring yield results. Thus, the government has also put in efforts to focus on improvement of sanitation facilities in various schools, Anganwadi centres and communities.
TSC is a success story and achieved thousands of ODF (Open Defecation Free) villages in the last few years. For the urban areas, the National Urban Sanitation Policy was launched in 2008 to accelerate sanitation provision in cities.

Nirmal Gram Puraskar

 
To give fillip to the objectives of TSC, the government initiated the Nirmal Gram Puraskar . A cash award, the Puraskar recognises fully covered PRIs and those individuals and institutions that work towards ensuring full sanitation coverage in their area of operation. The project implemented in rural areas taking district as the unit. The main objectives of Nirmal Gram Puraskar are:

• To bring sanitation to the forefront of social and political discourse for development in rural India.
• To develop open defecation free and clean villages that will act as models for others to emulate.
• To give incentives to PRIs to sustain the initiatives taken by them to eliminate the practice of open defecation from their respective geographical area by way of full sanitation coverage.
• To increase social mobilization in TSC implementation, by recognizing the catalytic role played by organizations in attaining universal sanitation coverage.

United Nation Millennium Development Goal

The 2.6 billion people, 40 per cent of the world's population, still do not have access to toilets or latrine that is why sanitation is one of the key subjects in the United Nations Millennium Development Goal  targets. The UN-backed Sanitation for all: the drive to 2015 aims to mobilize political will and collect resources to expand sanitation facilities across the globe.

World Toilet Day
In 2001, the World Toilet Organization (WTO) declared 19^th November as a World Toilet Day  (WTD). The WTO created the WTD to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper and clean sanitation.
The WTD also highlights the health, emotional and psychological consequences the poor endures as a result of inadequate sanitation. The WTD's popularity is gaining momentum, and in 2010 there were 51 events on sanitation facilities spanning 19 countries.

Welfare Schemes for Women

A number of welfare schemes for women have been undertaken by the Government of India. The details of such schemes under implementation by Ministry of Women and Child Development are as under:

RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL CRECHE SCHEME FOR THE CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS (RGNCS) provides day care facilities to the children in the age group 0-6 years from families with monthly income of less than 12000/-. In addition to being a safe space for the children, the crèches provide services such as supplementary nutrition, pre-school education and emergency health care, etc.

 

CENTRAL SOCIAL WELFARE BOARD : The main women welfare Related schemes and programmes being implemented by CSWB are as under:-

 

 Family Counselling Centres: It was introduced in 1983.  The centres provide counselling, referral and rehabilitative services to women and children who are victims of atrocities, family maladjustment and social ostracism. They also provide crisis intervention and trauma counselling in case of natural disasters.

 

 Awareness Generation Programme: This scheme aims at creating awareness amongst women and the community at large on rights, status and problems of women in particular and other social concerns.

 

Condensed courses of education for women: This scheme caters to the needs of girls/women who could not join mainstream education system or who were drop outs from formal schools.  The scheme aims to provide educational opportunities to girls/women above the age of 15 years along with additional inputs of skill development/vocational training.  The contents of the course are need based and modified according to local requirement.

 

NATIONAL MISSION FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN (NMEW) is an initiative of the Government of India for empowering women holistically. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme sanctioned in April 2011 and acts as an umbrella Mission with a mandate to strengthen inter-sectoral convergence and facilitate the process of coordination of all the women’s welfare and socio-economic development programmes across Ministries and Departments. NMEW is being implemented in all the 35 States and Union Territories.

 

WORKING WOMEN’S HOSTEL (WWH) Scheme envisages provision of safe and affordable hostel accommodation to working women, single working women, women working at places away from their home-towns and for women being trained for employment. The scheme has been revised recently.

 

SUPPORT TO TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME (STEP) for Women was launched as a Central Sector Scheme during 1986-87. It aims at making a significant impact on women by upgrading skills for self and wage employment. The target group includes the marginalized assetless rural Women and urban poor. This also includes wage labourers, unpaid daily workers, female headed households, migrant labourers, tribal and other dispossessed groups, with special focus on SC/ST households, women headed households and families below the poverty line.

 

RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH (RMK) with a corpus of Rs.100 crore extends micro-finance services to bring about the socio-economic upliftment of poor women. Credit is provided to the poor women beneficiaries through Intermediary Microfinancing Organisations (IMOs) working at grass root level such as NGOs, Women Federations, Co-operatives, not for profit companies registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act and other Voluntary/Civil society organisations etc. by following a client friendly, simple, without collateral, for livelihood and income generation activities, housing and micro-enterprises.

 

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND LIVELIHOOD PROGRAMME IN MID-GANGETIC PLAIN (WELP) also called Priyadarshini is being implemented with assistance of International Fund for Agricultural Development in 13 Blocks spread over 5 Districts in Uttar Pradesh i.e. Bahraich, CSM Nagar, Raebareli, Shravasti and Sultanpur and 2 Districts Madhubani and Sitamarhi in Bihar. It aims at holistic empowerment of vulnerable groups of women and adolescent girls in the project area through formation of Women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) and promotion of improved livelihood opportunities. Over 1,00,000 households are to be covered under the project and 7,200 SHGs will be formed during the project period ending 2016-17. The beneficiaries are expected to be empowered to address their political, legal and health issues through rigorous capacity building. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is the lead programme agency for implementation of the programme which became effective in December 2009.  

 

 INDIRA GANDHI MATRITVA SAHYOG YOJANA (IGMSY) is a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating (P&L) women introduced in the October 2010 to contribute to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and nursing mothers. It envisages providing cash to P&L women during pregnancy and lactation in response to individual fulfilling specific conditions. It addresses short term income support objectives with long term objective of behaviour and attitudinal change.  The scheme attempts to partly compensate for wage loss to P&L women both prior to and after delivery of the child. The scheme is being implemented initially on pilot basis in 52 selected districts using the platform of ICDS. 12.5 lakh P&L women are expected to be covered every year under IGMSY. The beneficiaries are paid  4000/ in three  instalments per P&L women between the second trimester till the child attains the age of 6 months on fulfilling specific conditions related to maternal and child health .

 

 SWADHAR GREH SCHEME: The Ministry of Women and Child Development had been administering Swadhar scheme since 2001 for Women in difficult circumstances. Under the Scheme, temporary accommodation, maintenance and rehabilitative services are provided to women and girls rendered homeless due to family discord, crime, violence, mental stress, social ostracism. Another scheme with similar objectives/target groups namely Short Stay Home (SSH) was being implemented by Central Social Welfare Board.  Being similar in objectives and target groups, both the schemes have been merged to Swadhar Greh scheme with revised financial parameters.

 

 UJJAWALA is a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Funds are released to NGOs as the scheme is being implemented mainly through NGOs.

Jan Aushadhi Stores

The Government India, Department of Pharmaceuticals, launched Jan Aushadhi Campaign in November, 2008 by way of opening up of Jan Aushadhi Stores in the Government Hospitals to make available quality medicines at affordable prices to all, by way of supply of medicines through Central Pharma Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) and others. To begin with, at least one Jan Aushadhi Store in each district is intended to be opened, wherever the State Governments taking into account their prevailing Health Policy, extend their support and cooperation in allotting the space in the Government Hospitals or any other suitable locations and also identifying the agencies amongst NGOs, Charitable/cooperative/Hospitals and Government Bodies, to manage such stores. 

Presently, Jan Aushadhi Stores have presence in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttrakhand, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. 

Schemes to make Indian Agriculture Climate Resilient

Ministry of Agriculture has intensified implementation of various schemes/programmes to make Indian Agriculture climate resilient by embedding and mainstreaming various adaption measures. Notable among these schemes/programmes are Macro Management of Agriculture, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, National Food Security Mission, National Horticulture Mission and National Mission on Micro Irrigation.

Further, Ministry of Agriculture has been implementing National Network Project on Climate Change and has also launched National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture for studying impacts of climate change on Indian Agriculture. 

Agro produce has not registered any decline due to climate change and advancement of the seasonal cycle period. On the contrary, production of food grain has reached a record level of 244.78 million tonne during 2010-11. During the same period, country has also witnessed highest ever production in wheat, pulses, oilseeds and cotton. 

Employment Guarantee Scheme

The Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that the Scheme of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) in implementation from 1997 has been revamped recently in the year 2009. The livelihoods conditions in urban areas are vastly different from those in rural areas.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today she said, in the urban areas what is perhaps more required is skill development of the urban poor as well as facilitation of sustainable self-employment opportunities for them instead of focusing on unskilled wage employment as is the case in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). The recently revised guidelines of SJSRY lays considerable focus on skill development of the urban poor to enhance their employability, so as to enable them to take advantage of increasing job opportunities in the urban areas.

Scheme for Training of Agriculture Students to Establish Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres

Government has launched a scheme ‘Establishment of Agriclinic and Agri-business Centres’. The Scheme aims to:

(i)           Provide gainful self-employment opportunities to unemployed agricultural graduates, agricultural diploma holders, intermediate in agriculture and biological science graduates with PG in agri-related courses;

(ii)         Support agricultural development; and

(iii)       Supplement efforts of pubic extension by necessarily providing extension services to the farmers as per local needs of farmers.

            Since inception of the scheme, 27,894 candidates have been trained and 9,949 of them have established agri-ventures up to February, 2012.

Salient features of the scheme:

(i)        The National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) is the Implementing Agency for training component of the Scheme. Two months’ free residential training is imparted to the selected eligible candidates on Agri-Entrepreneurship Development followed by one-year handholding support after completion of training, .through Nodal Training Institutes.

(ii)      The Scheme has a provision of credit support (start up loan) upto ` 20 lakhs for individual projects and  ` 100 lakhs for a group project. 

(iii)    There is a provision of credit linked back-ended composite subsidy on the bank loan availed by trained candidates under the Scheme. The subsidy is 44% in respect of women, SC/ST & all categories of candidates from North-Eastern and Hill States;  and 36% in respect of all other categories

(iv)    National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is the Implementing Agency for disbursement of subsidy and monitoring the credit support to agri-clinics and agribusiness centres through the banks.     

New Schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs in the 12th Five Year Plan

Based on the recommendations of the National Advisory Council (NAC) the Ministry of Minority Affairs has proposed to implement the following new schemes in the 12th Five Year Plan towards inclusive development to empower the minorities:

(i) Interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies scheme for the students belonging to minority communities with the objective of providing financial assistance by way of extending interest subsidy on education loans to students of  minority communities for pursuing higher studies abroad;

(ii) Free bicycle for Girl Students of Class IX with the objective of retention of minority girl students from Class IX onwards;

(iii) Support for students clearing Prelims Conducted by UPSC/SSC, State Public Service Commission (PSC) etc. with the objective to support candidates from the minority   communities who qualify at the preliminary Examinations conducted by Union  Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), State             Public Service Commissions (PSCs) etc. to improve their representation in    government services;

(iv) Scheme for promotion of education in 100 minority concentration towns/cities  having substantial minority population, for empowering the minorities. This would be in the form of providing infrastructure for various levels of schools, including teaching aids and also for up-gradation and construction of infrastructure for   skill and vocational education along with hostel facility;

(v) Village development programme for villages not covered by minority concentration blocks (MCBs)/ minority concentration  districts(MCDs) to address the development needs for 1000 villages inhabited by minority communities but falling outside the  selected minority concentration districts. The main objective of the scheme is to provide infrastructure for socio-economic development and basic amenities;

(vi) Support to Districts Level institution in MCDs to give financial support for setting up and running district level institutions for minority welfare in Minority Concentration Districts; and

(vii) Skill Development Initiatives to enhance employment and livelihood skills of  minorities by providing skills and skills up-gradation to the minority communities.

Earlier, the National Advisory Council had submitted its  report titled “Towards Inclusive Development to Empower Minorities” with the following major recommendations:

(i)   For implementation of the Multi sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) and Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme, rural and urban areas with a high concentration of minorities  should be the Unit of Planning with focus on access to basic services such as ICDS services, clean drinking water, individual sanitation, sewerage and drainage;

(ii) Formal engagement of non- governmental organizations (NGOs) in all the Minority Concentration Districts for monitoring and mandatory social audits;

(iii)  Substantially enhancing allocation for MsDP in 12th Plan;

(iv)  Revision of MsDP guidelines to ensure that need based proposals have synergy with the 15- Point Programme rather than duplication;

(v)  Establishment of a credible data bank on an urgent basis for operationalisation of the Assessment and Monitoring Agency;

(vi) Expansion of the 15 Point Programme to include schemes such as small and medium industries, youth affairs, agriculture;

(vii) Scholarships  Schemes: a) Make  the Pre-Matric scholarships a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme ; b) Make the Pre- matric and Post- matric scholarship Schemes   demand – driven and universal schemes; c) Increase the scholarship amount for Post- Matric scholarships with rationalized and differing scholarship structure for different categories (10+2, Basic Degree Courses, Professional Degree Courses); d) Increase amount and number of Merit-cum- means and Maulana Azad National Fellowships; e) Ensure a radical simplification of procedures at all levels to make schemes accessible to those who need them most; and

(viii) Establish residential social welfare hostels for minority children from class VI to XII and residential schools in minorities blocks and towns/cities.

Central Rural Sanitation Programme

The Programme was launched in 1986 with the objectives of improving the quality of life of rural people and providing privacy and dignity to women. The concept of sanitation was expanded in 1993 to include personal hygiene, home sanitation, sage water and disposal of garbage, human excreta and wastewater. The components of the programme included construction of individual sanitary toilets for household below poverty-line (BPL), conversion of dry latrines to water-pour flush toilets, construction of village sanitary complexes for women, setting up of sanitary marts and production centres, intensive campaign for creating awareness and health education, etc.
Keeping in view the experiences of the Central and state governments, NGOs and other implementing agencies and the recommendations of the Second National Seminar on Rural Sanitation, the strategy for the Ninth Five Year Plan was revised and the programme was restructured form 1 April 1999. The restructured programme moves away form the principle of state-wise allocation of funds, primarily based on poverty criteria, to a demand driven approach in a phased manner. Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) was introduced and the Allocation Based Programme was phased out by 31 March 2002. TSC is community-led and people-centred. There was a shift from a high subsidy to a low subsidy regime. The TSC approach emphasized awareness-building component and meets the demand through alternate delivery mechanism. School Sanitation has been introduced as a major component to encourage wider acceptance of sanitation among rural masses. The States/UTs are required to formulate project proposals under the TSC in order to claim Central government assistance.
Under the TSC, so far 559 projects in 30 States/UTs have been sanctioned with the total project outlay of about Rs.6240.27 crore. The Central, State and Beneficiary/Panchayat contributions are about Rs.3675.38 crore, Rs.1424.09 crore and Rs.1140.80 crore respectively. The components sanctioned in the 559 projects are

1. Construction of 499 lakh individual household latrines
2. 656690 toilets for Schools
3. 36098 Community Sanitary Complexes
4. 199033 toilets for Balwadis/Anganwadis and
5. 4030 Rural Sanitary Marts/Production Centres.

Besides, funds have been earmarked for start-up activities, Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and Administrative charges. The total numbers of household toilets constructed up to 2005-06 are 14,48,1807.
To add vigour to the implementation of TSC Government of India has separately launched an award scheme 'Nirmal Gram Puraskar'(NGP) for fully sanitised and open defecation free Gram Panchayats, block and districts. In the first year of its institution only 40 PRIs were awarded NGP on 24 February 2005. In the second year the number of awarded PRIs/Blocks and organisation have increased to 772. His Excellency, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, distributed the Awards on 23 March 2006.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Ministry of Rural Development lays great emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of all rural development programmes in general and poverty alleviation and employment generation schemes in particular, being implemented in various States/UTs.It is well recognised that the success of the programmes largely depends on the effective delivery system and efficient implementation at the grass-roots level so that the programme benefits reach the rural poor in full measures. In order to ensure this, the Ministry has evolved a comprehensive multi-level and multi tool system of Monitoring and Evaluation for the implementation of its programmes. The Monitoring mechanism includes, inter-alia, the Performance Review Committee, Review meetings by the Minister of Rural Development and Ministers of State with the Chief Ministers/ Ministers of Rural development and Officers of the States, the Area Officer Scheme, periodic progress reports, audit and utilisation certificates, video conferencing and field visits. The Ministry conducts quick evaluation/concurrent evaluation of all major programmes. Impact assessment studies to asses the overall impact of programmes of village-level is also conducted in selected district. The Vigilance and Monitoring Committees at State and District Levels in all States/UTs monitor the implementation of Programmes and introduce greater transparency in the process. These Committees inter-alia include MPs/ MLAs representatives of Panchayti Raj Institutions and NGOs. The Members of Parliament both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been assigned a Central role in the reconstituted V&M Committees and they have been nominated Chairman/Co-Chairman of the district level V&M Committees.
The Ministry has also taken initiatives to strengthen the monitoring mechanism and quality of implementation of programmes by introducing District Level Monitoring (DLM) System in 130 district of 27 States through external agencies which include monthly reporting of physical and financial performance, qualitative reporting about policy and implementation environments in the district and physical verification of the assets crated under various programmes of the Ministry. Similarly DLM of Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) and Swajaldhara is implemented in 398 districts of the country w.e.f. 1 July 2005 This system aims at providing continuous, transparent and accountable monitoring inputs in reporting format with the objectives of reporting of the process and progress of the programmes covering different components of the programmes. It also aims at identification of gaps in the implementation at the village, block, district and state level. The monitoring system also elicits the stakeholders' views; assesses the institutional issues and document case studies and success stories on best practices, innovations and lesson learned.
In order to strengthen the monitoring mechanism, the Ministry has a panel of about 300 National Level Monitors comprising retired servicemen and Retired Civil Servants to monitor and furnish periodic reports to the Ministry on the implementation of programmes in selected districts including verifying facts of the cases and complaints if any, which may be referred to them.
The Union Government in recent years has given emphasis to e-governance in all possible areas. Accordingly, the Ministry of Rural Development has also initiated action with the state Governments and UTs to ensure that information and progress reports completed by Districts Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) are sent through the electronic medium. About 400 (DRDAs) have started sending their reports through online. Efforts are being made in this direction to obtain online progress reports from all the remaining DRDAs.

Bharat Nirman

Bharat Nirman is a time-bound business plan for action in rural infrastructure. Under Bharat Nirman, action is proposed in the areas of irrigation, rural housing, rural water supply, rural electrification and rural telecommunication connectivity.

Rural Roads

To upgrade rural infrastructure, the Government has formulated a proposal for providing the road connections to more than 38,484 villages above 1000 population and all 20,867 habitations above 500 populations in hilly and tribal areas.
To achieve the targets of Bharat Nirman, 1,46,185 kms. of road length is proposed to be constructed by 2009. This will benefit 66,802 unconnected eligible habitations in the country. To ensure full farm to market connectivity, it is also proposed to upgrade 1,94,132 kms. of the existing Associated Through Routes. A sum of approximately Rs.48,000 crore is proposed to be invested to achieve this.
The main thrust of research and development (R&D) in the roads sector is to build a sustainable road infrastructure comparable to the best roads in the world. The various components of this strategy are improvement in design, modernization of construction techniques, introduction of improved material conforming to latest trends, evolving better and appropriate specifications, encouraging development and use of new technologies etc. The dissemination of these matters is done through the publication of new guidelines, code of practices, instructions/circulars, compilation of state-of-the-art reports and seminars/presentations etc. The research schemes sponsored by the Department are generally 'applied' in nature, which, once completed, would enable them to be adopted by user agencies/departments in their work in the field. The areas covered are roads, road transport, bridges, traffic and transportation techniques etc. The Department takes the help of various research institutions, academic institutions and universities to implement the schemes. An outlay of Rs.600.00 lakhs has been provided for R&D in 2007-08. Some of the ongoing major schemes are as follows:

• Roads:
  • Development of GIS based National Highways information system;
  • Guidelines for soil nailing techniques in highway engineering;
  • Pilot study on effect of overloading on road infrastructure;
  • Investigation on field performance of bituminous mixes with modified binders;
  • R&D Studies on performance evaluation of rigid pavements on high density traffic corridors using instrumentation supported by laboratory tests.
  In addition to the above, the proposal of IIT, Roorkee for establishment of the Ministry's Chair in it in the area of development of Highway System has also been sanctioned.
• Bridges:
  • Creation of complete range of independent testing facility at Central Road Research Institute (CRRI ), New Delhi.

Rural Housing

Housing is one of basic requirements for human survival. For a shelterless person, possession of a house brings about a profound social change in his existence, endowing him with an identity, thus integrating him with his immediate social milieu.
The Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) with a view to providing financial assistance to the rural poor living below poverty line for construction of pucca house. The details of the scheme along with its performance are given below:

Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)

The Government of India is implementing Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) since the year 1985-86 to provide financial assistance for construction / upgradation of dwelling units to the below poverty line (BPL) rural households belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled Tribes and freed bonded labourers categories. From the year 1993-94, the scope of the scheme was extended to cover non-Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes rural BPL poor, subject to the condition that the benefits to non-SC/ST would not be more than 40% of the total IAY allocation. The benefits of the Scheme have also been extended to the families of ex-servicemen of the armed and paramilitary forces killed in action, 3% of the Houses are reserved for the rural Below Poverty Line physically and mentally challenged persons, from 2006-07 onward, funds and physical targets under IAY are also being earmarked for BPL minorities in each state.
Under the scheme, financial resources are shared between the centre and the states on a 75:25 basis. Since, reduction of shelterlessness is the primary objective, 75% weightage is given to housing shortage and 25% to the poverty ratios prescribed by Planning Commission for state level allocation. For district level allocation, 75% weightage is given again to housing shortage and 25% to SC/ST population of the concerned districts.
On the basis of allocations made and targets fixed, district Rural development Agency (DRDAs)/Zilla Parishada (ZPs) decide Panchayat-wise number of houses to be constructed under IAY and intimate the same to the concerned Gram Panchayat. Thereafter, the Gram Sabha selects the beneficiaries, restricting its number to the target allotted, from the list of eligible households from the Permanent IAY Waitlists. No further approval of the higher authority is required.
The ceiling on construction assistance under the IAY has been enhanced w.e.f. 1.4.2008, Rs.25, 000/- to Rs.35,000/- per unit in the plain areas and from Rs.27,500/- to Rs.38,500/- in hilly/difficult areas. For upgradation of kutcha house, the financial assistance has also been enhanced from Rs.12,500/- to Rs.15,000/- per unit. In addition, The Reserve Bank of India has been requested by the Ministry of Finance to include IAY houses under the Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) scheme for lending upto Rs.20,000 per unit at an interest rate of 4%.
Further, the dwelling units should invariably be allotted in the name of a female member of the beneficiary household. Alternatively, it can be allotted in the name of both husband and wife. Only in case there is no eligible female member in the family, the house can be allotted in the name of an eligible male member.
The Sanitary latrine and smokeless chullah and proper drainage are required for each IAY house. Latrine could be constructed separate for the IAY house on the site of beneficiary.
The construction of the houses is the sole responsibility of the beneficiary. Engagement of contractors is strictly prohibited.
No specific type design has been stipulated for an IAY house. Choice of design, technology and materials for construction of an IAY house is the sole discretion of the beneficiaries.
About 181.51 lakh houses have been constructed under IAY since inception of the Scheme with an expenditure of Rs.36900.41 crores (upto 31/5/2008).

Performance during the year 2007-08

During 2007-08, the Central allocation for Rural Houseing was Rs.40,322.70 crore. The target for construction/upgradation of IAY houses was 21.27 lakh. Against this target, 19.88 lakh houses were constructed/upgraded by incurring an amount of Rs.5,458.01 crores (including State share).

Performance during the year 2008-09

The Central allocation for 2008-09 under the IAY is Rs.5,645.77 crore for the target of constructing/upgrading 21.27 lakh IAY houses. Out of this, an amount of Rs.1,694.48 crore has been released as part of first instalment and 85,879 houses have been constructed so far, (upto 31/5/2008).

Irrigation

Under the Irrigation Component of Bharat Nirman, the target of creation of additional irrigation potential of 1 crore hectare in 4 years (2005-06 to 2008-09) is planned to be met largely through expeditious completion of identified ongoing major and medium irrigation projects. Irrigation potential of 42 lakh hectare is planned to be created by expeditiously completing such ongoing major and medium projects.
There is a definite gap between irrigation potential created and the potential utilized. Under Bharat Nirman it is planned to restore and utilize irrigation potential of 10 lakh hectare through implementation of extension, renovation and modernization of schemes alongwith command area development and water management practices.
There are considerable areas in the country with unutilised ground water resources. Irrigation potential of 28 lakh hectare is planned to be created through ground water development.
The remaining target for creation of irrigation potential of 10 lakh hectare is planned to be created by way of minor irrigation schemes using surface flow.
10 lakh hectare of irrigation potential is also planned by way of repair, renovation and restoration of water bodies and extension, renovation and modernization of minor irrigation schemes.

Telephone Connections

Telecom connectivity constitutes an important part of the effort to upgrade the rural infrastructure. Under the Bharat Nirman Programme, it will be ensured that 66,822 revenue villages in the country, which have not yet been provided with a Village Public Telephone (VPT), shall be covered. Out of the above villages, connectivity in 14,183 remote and far flung villages will be provided through digital satellite phone terminals. Assistance for both capital as well as operational expenditure for these VPTs will be met out of the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF).

Rural Water Supply

To build rural infrastructure, Bharat Nirman has been launched by the Government of India in 2005 to be implemented in a period of four years from 2005-06 to 2008-09. Rural drinking water is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman. During Bharat Nirman period, 55,067 un-covered and about 3.31 lakh slipped-back habitations are to be covered with provisions of drinking water facilities and 2.17 lakh quality-affected habitations are to be addressed for water quality problem.
While prioritising the addressal of the water quality problem, Arsenic and Fluoride affected habitations have been accorded priority followed by Iron, Salinity, Nitrate and other contaminants. To ensure that habitations once provided with drinking water supply infrastructure do not slip back and face drinking water problem, sustainability of drinking water sources and systems has been accorded high priority. To achieve drinking water security at village/ habitation level, conjunctive use of water i.e. judicious use of rainwater, surface water and ground water is promoted.
To enable the rural community shoulder the responsibility in management, operation and maintenance of water supply systems at village level, decentralized, demand-driven, community-managed approach in the form of Swajaldhara have been adopted. To further strengthen community participation in the drinking water sector for sustainability, National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance programme has been launched in February, 2006 under which 5 persons in each Gram Panchayat are to be trained to carry out regular surveillance of drinking water sources for which 100% financial assistance including water testing kits, are provided.

Rural Electrification

Ministry of Power has introduced the scheme Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidhyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in April 2005, which aims at providing electricity in all villages and habitations in four years and provides access to electricity to all rural households. This programme has been brought under the ambit of Bharat Nirman.
Under RGGVY, electricity distribution infrastructure is envisaged to establish Rural Electricity Distribution Backbone (REDB) with at least a 33/11KV sub-station, Village Electrification Infrastructure (VEI) with at least a Distribution Transformer in a village or hamlet, and standalone grids with generation where grid supply is not feasible.
This infrastructure would cater to the requirements of agriculture and other activities in rural areas including irrigation pump sets, small and medium industries, khadi and village industries, cold chains, healthcare and education and IT. This would facilitate overall rural development, employment generation and poverty alleviation.
Subsidy towards capital expenditure to the tune of 90% will be provided, through Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), which is a nodal agency for implementation of the scheme. Electrification of un-electrified Below Poverty Line (BPL) households will be financed with 100% capital subsidy @ Rs.1500/- per connection in all rural habitations.
The Management of Rural Distribution is mandated through franchisees. The services of Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSU) are available to the States for assisting them in the execution of Rural Electrification projects.

Rural Water Supply Programme

Clean drinking water is a basic necessity of life. Supply of clean drinking water in the rural areas has always been one of the highest priorities of the government. A Technology Mission on drinking water named "National Drinking Water Mission" (NDWM) was launched in 1986, which subsequently was rechristened as "Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) in 1991 with three key objectives:

1. Providing safe drinking water to all villages,
2. Assisting local communities to maintain sources of safe drinking water in good condition, and
3. Giving special attention for water supply to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

To achieve the objectives, Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) is being implemented to resolve the drinking water problem in rural habitations. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the states by providing financial and technical support. The Tenth Plan emphasizes participatory approach where PRIs should be the key institutions for convergence of drinking water supply programmes at the ground level. The strategy to achieve the Tenth Plan objectives can be briefly summarised as:

1. Accelerating coverage of the remaining Not Covered and Partially Covered habitations including those slipped back from fully covered to partially and not covered categories, with safe drinking water systems.
2. To tackle problems of water quality in affected habitations and to institutionalize water quality monitoring and surveillance systems.
3. To promote sustainability, both of systems and sources, to ensure continued supply of safe drinking water in covered habitations

Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) aims at achieving this objective. Considerable success has been achieved in meeting the drinking water needs of the rural population through the said scheme. There are more than 4 million hand pumps and 2 lakh piped water schemes in the rural areas.
The ARWSP was launched during 1972-73. It is currently being implemented through the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission. The scheme aims at coverage of all rural habitations with population of 100 and above, specially the un-reached ones, ensure sustainability of the systems and sources, tackle the problem of water quality and institutionalise water quality monitoring and surveillance through a Catchment Area Approach.
As on 1 April 2005, 96.13 per cent of rural habitations have been Fully Covered (FC) with drinking water facilities and 3.55 per cent are Partially Covered (PC) and 0.32 per cent is Not Covered (NC) with drinking water facilities. There are slippages of FC into NC or PC due to various factors such as lowering of ground water table, systems outliving their lives, increase in population, etc.
Drinking water supply is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman, which has been envisaged to build strong rural infrastructure in four years (2005-06 to 2008-09). The task ahead is to cover all the remaining uncovered habitations and also to cover the slipped back as well as the water quality affected ones. Action Plans from State/UT Governments for achieving the goals of Bharat Nirman in a time bound manner have been obtained.
For ensuring sustainability of the systems, steps were initiated in 1999 to institutionalise community participation in the implementation of rural drinking water supply schemes by incorporating the following three basic principles:

1. Adoption of a demand-driven responsive and adaptable approach based on empowerment of villagers to ensure their full participation in the project through a decision making role in the choice of scheme design, control of finances and management arrangements.
2. Increasing role of government for empowering user groups/gram panchayats for sustainable management of drinking water assets and integrated water management and conservation.
3. Partial capital cost sharing either in cash or kind or both and 100 per cent responsibility of Operation and Maintenance by end-users.

Sector Reforms Projects, based on the above principles were sanctioned in 67 districts on pilot basis. With the experience gained from these pilot projects, reform process has been scaled up in the entire country through Swajaldhara launched on 25 December 2002. A notable feature of Swajaldhara is involvement of Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in planning, implementation, operation and maintenance. This would in turn ensure sustainability of the system. 10 per cent contribution is made by the community and 90 per cent funds are provided by the Central government. In case of SC and ST habitations, community contribution can be in the form of cash, kind, labour or land or a combination of these.
Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) adopts an integrated approach so that conservation and augmentation of water sources is interrelated with rural water supply schemes to provide sustainable supply of safe drinking water to the rural population. The Mission seeks to provide supply of 40 liters of safe drinking water in rural areas.
An initiative has been taken by Government of India in February 2006 by launching the National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Programme which envisages institutionalisation of community participation for monitoring and surveillance of drinking water sources at the grass-root level by Gram Panchayats and Village Water and Sanitation Committees, followed by checking the positively tested samples at the district and State level laboratories.
Another initiative taken by the Government is that from 2006-07 onwards focused funding to tackle drinking water has been started. Up to 20 per cent of ARWSP funds are to be earmarked separately for tackling water quality problems. For 2006-07, 20 per cent of ARWSP funds have been allocated for funding under water quality.