Government has been under taking Various programs to address the concern of Urban-Rural Disparity

To address the problem of urban-rural disparity in the country the Government of India has been implementing various programs such as Special Area Programs, Flagship Programs, Bharat Nirman Programs and Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

The Ministry of Rural Development implements schemes like

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the objective to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
• Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) to provide self employment to the members of the rural poor families in the country. SGSY has been restructured as National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) to implement it in a Mission mode in a phased manner for targeted and time bound delivery of results.
• Besides, the Ministry is also implementing others schemes viz, Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Drinking Water Supply (DWS), Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) and Watershed Development Programs with the objective of developing rural infrastructure and basic amenities for improving living conditions of the rural masses.

These schemes are primarily designed to provide employment to the rural poor in their villages besides creating rural infrastructure so that urban-rural disparity in the country could be reduced.

Concurrent Evaluation Studies have been conducted from time to time by the Ministry to assess the effectiveness and impact of rural development programs. The findings of these studies revealed that by and large the target groups of the programs have been satisfied with the implementation of these programs in rural areas.The Ministry of Rural Development has laid special emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of its programs being implemented in rural areas all over the country. The Ministry has put in place a system of monitoring implementation of the programs and utilization of funds through Periodical Progress Reports, Performance Review Committee, Area Officers’ Scheme, Vigilance and Monitoring Committee at the State/District Level, and National Level Monitors. Executive instructions have been issued by the Ministry for conducting social audit of the schemes.