Once Gandhi Ji said that real India lives in the villages and to make India a powerful nation the role of rural development is necessary.
Approximate 70 percent population lives in rural India which Still faces problems to avail basic amenities like roads, housing, and water, etc.
To provide basic amenities to rural people, the Government of India started Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) in 2000 which runs under the Ministry of Rural Development and monitored by the then planning commission now changed into Niti Aayog.
The PMGY scheme follows an integrated approach, so it is divided into some sub-schemes which are the following;
Pradhan Mantri gram Sadak Yojana: It aimed at providing all-weather road connectivity to the unconnected villages. All habitations with a population of 500 persons and above in the plain areas and 250 person’s and above in hill States the tribal and the desert areas will be connected by this scheme.
It is to be noted that habitations that were earlier provided all-weather connectivity roads would not be eligible even if the present conditions of those roads are bad.
It’s a 100% centrally Sponsored Scheme and 50% of the Cess on High-speed diesel is earmarked for this Programme.
The target year of achieving 100% rural road connectivity under PMGSY was 2019 but it’s still not achieved.
Major district roads, state highways, and National highways are not covered under this scheme even if they belong to rural areas.
Gramin Aawas Housing: Home is a basic requirement for all human beings, everyone needs a shelter with basic amenities like drinking water and sanitation.
Pradhan Mantri’s Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) provide housing facility to rural poor. The pattern is the same as followed in Indira Awas Yojana. The target group for this scheme is the below poverty level (BPL) people belonging to SC and ST communities.
The identification of beneficiaries is done through the district rural development agency which involves local governments for the identification purpose.
The important thing is that the houses are named after the female member beneficiary which is the symbol of women empowerment.
Rural drinking water project: Water is necessary for life and it’s a basic right to access the water. Poor water quality creates various diseases. So, 75% of the total budget of this scheme is used to provide clean water for drinking to rural people and 25% budget allocation for future and sustainable water conservation and water harvesting under the desert development program.
This scheme focuses on the creation of social and economic infrastructure as well as in some critical area steps objective of improving the quality of life of rural people.
Some provisions of PMGY which focus on 7 basic areas after a conference of chief ministers in 1996 are namely;
1. Primary health care
2. Universalization of primary education
3. safe drinking water
4. Public housing assistance to all shelterless poor families
5. Nutrition
6. Connectivity of all villages and habitation by roads
7. Streamlining of the public distribution system with a focus on the poor.
All the above 7 points were into this program UNDER the additional central assistance.
This scheme also focuses on a strategy that improves the quality of life and eradicates poverty and improves the indicators of human development.
It focuses on a decentralized approach where the state and UT governments have their special planning and implementation according to the need of respective states and UTs.
The Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana has two components;
One is for rural connectivity in which 50% allocation is provided and the other objective is for Primary Health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water, and nutrition with the remaining 50% of the allocation.
In 2001-2002 electricity as a priority sector added in this scheme.
Challenges faced by PMGY:
Some of the problems that are faced by this program are that the implementation issue as well as the overlapping with other schemes. Even after the various programs, our country faces various problems like unemployment, bad roads, poor health, poor infrastructure, and illiteracy.
So there is a need to collaborate and co-operate with other departments and reduce the gap of communication.
The regional-based approach should be adopted rather than one size fit for all.
The aims and intentions of the government are good to reduce malnutrition, illiteracy and to provide drinking water but there is a need to update the schemes as it was introduced in 2000 because some new challenges emerged since then.
New India cannot be built without nurturing the rural area of India.
Every people should be made part of this moment by providing equal developmental opportunities especially rural people where the heart of India lives.
Click here to download the PDF of Pradan Mantri Gramodaya Yojna
This article is written by;
Mr. Pankaj Kumar Gupta
(Email ID: [email protected])
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