INNOVATIVE SCHEME ON
RURAL DRINKING WATER, HIGHER ALLOCATION ON EMPLOYMENT SCHEMES
MARK 2002 OVER 56,000 KM RURALROADS TAKEN UP UNDER PMGSY
The year 2002 marked
the launching of an innovative scheme in rural drinking water
to ensure safe drinking water for all by 2004. Along with this
the allocation for the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana was stepped
up to provide employment and the implementation of the rural roads
scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana gathered momentum.
Potable Water
To All
An ambitious programme
for providing of drinking water to all the villages in the shortest
possible time at minimum cost, a new initiative named as Swajaldhara
was launched by the Prime Minister on 25th
December, 2002. Under the new scheme, 10 per cent of the cost
of the project would be contributed by the villagers while the
remaining 90 per cent would be borne by the Union Government.
In case of villages/Panchayats where SC/ST population is at least
50 percent of the total population, the contribution of the community
will be five percent. The Swajaldhara programme is an extension
of reform initiative in rural drinking water supply where the
community will plan, implement, operate, maintain and manage the
asset. To begin with 882 projects worth Rs. 87 crore has been
sanctioned for eight states. They are Andhra Pradesh, Orissa,
Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal
and Uttar Pradesh. An amount of Rs. 500 Crore is expected to be
spent on the scheme this year.
The Ministry has
been mandated to make provision of safe drinking water to all
habitations by 2004. Under Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme
(ARWSP), the budgetary support has been increased from Rs.1,960
crore in 2000-01 to Rs. 2,235 crore in 2002-03, which is more
than 30 per cent increase over 1998-99. Out of the total number
of 14.22 lakh rural habitations in the country, almost 12,84,555
rural habitations are fully covered with drinking water facility,
about 1,23,014 habitations are partially covered and only about
15,095 habitations are not covered.
Sampoorna Grameen
Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
Gainful employment,
food security and strengthening of infrastructure in rural areas
is a must for national renewal for a resurgent India. The Prime
Minister launched a new ambitious scheme on September 25, 2001
to provide additional employment in rural areas under the Sampoorna
Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) with an annual outlay of Rs.10,000
crore.
During the year 2002-2003,
an amount of Rs. 2318 crore and 27 lakh tonne foodgrains have
been released. Around 2675 lakh mandays have been generated so
far.
Special component
of the SGRY replaces Food for Work programme w.e.f. 1st
April 2002. Under special component of the SGRY, 38.79 lakh tonnes
of foodgrains has been released to drought-affected states/districts
during the current year.
Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojana
Rural roads are vital
to economic growth and poverty alleviation in rural areas. The
Prime Minister launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
on December 25, 2000, with the objective of providing road connectivity
through good all-weather roads to all unconnected habitations
having a population of more than 1,000 persons by the year 2003
and those with a population of more than 500 persons by the end
of the Tenth Plan period (2007). An investment of about Rs.60,000
crore is envisaged.
In a short span of
24 months since inception, project proposals for Rs.7553.28 crore
have been cleared. About 56,200 Kms of rural roads have been taken
up under the programme benefiting about 37,225 habitations. So
far, 8391 road works have been completed providing connectivity
to 12,508 habitations and an expenditure of over Rs. 2700 crore
has been incurred.
An exclusive website
www.pmgsy.org
has been launched for on-line Management & Monitoring in order
to track the progress and quality of each roadwork.
Swarnjayanti Gram
Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
The Swarnjayanti
Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) is a new and holistic self-employment
programme launched during the year 1999-2000. The SGSY aims at
bringing all assisted swarozgari (beneficiary) above the poverty
line by providing them income generating assets through a mix
of bank credit and government subsidy. A total of 1,70,692 Self-Help
Groups (SHGs) have been formed during the year.
SARAS is being organized
coinciding with India International Trade Fair in Pragati Maidan,
New Delhi to improve and develop marketing linkages of the SGSY
products.
Rural Housing
Shelter is one of
the basic requirement for human survival, which needs to be met
on a priority basis. ‘Housing for All’ is the goal. Efforts are
being made to end the shelterlessness by the end of the Tenth
Plan period. Under Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), about 5.86 lakh
houses have been constructed during the year.
A National Workshop
on Rural Housing and Habitat Development was organized by the
Ministry of Rural Development in collaboration with the Council
for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART)
on 18-19th October 2002 at New Delhi.
Restructured Central
Rural Sanitation Programme
A Total Sanitation
Campaign has been launched to suit district specific requirements.
The campaign is now being implemented in 185 districts with an
outlay of Rs. 2,032 crore. Under the Total Sanitation Campaign,
17.93 lakh household latrines, 970 sanitary complexes for women,
19,145 toilets for schools and 1,545 Balwadi toilets have been
constructed so far.
Empowering the
Panchayati Raj Institutions
Panchayats have been
recognised as the backbone for the development of Indian villages.
Panchayati Raj Institutions constitute the bedrock of the implementation
of Rural Development Programmes.
An All-India Panchayat
Adhyaksha’s Sammelan was held on April 5-6, 2002 in New Delhi.
It was resolved that State governments will ensure the implementation
of the provisions of Constitution (73rd Amendment)
Act, 1992 and the provisions of Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled
Areas) Act, 1996 in its true spirit by December 31, 2002.
During the year,
Panchayat elections to all the three tiers were held in Assam,
Maharashtra and Orissa. Elections to Intermediate and District
Panchayats were held in Punjab. Panchayat election to two tiers
were held in Manipur and Sikkim and elections to Gram Panchayats
were held in Goa and Chandigarh (Intermediate Panchayat).
Land Reforms
The budget provision
for the Department of Land Reforms which was about Rs.300 crore
in 1997-2000 was enhanced to Rs. 900 crore in the last two years
(2000-2002). It has further been enhanced to Rs.1,000 crore for
the year 2002-03.
Revenue Ministers
Conference was organized on 19-20 August, 2002 to discuss implementation
of land reforms measures, adoption of Pattadar Passbooks, implementation
of centrally sponsored scheme for computerization of land records.
Wastelands Development
Land is a critically
important national resource. Its efficient management is vital
for economic growth and development of rural areas. In all, 4080
watershed projects under Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) and
Dessert Development Programme (DDP) and 52 under Integrated Wasteland
Development Programme (IWDP) have been sanctioned during the year
for development of 23.61 lakh hectare land at a total cost of
Rs. 1416.65 crore. The cost norms for the watershed development
projects under the three watershed programmes namely IWDP, DPAP
and DDP have been enhanced to a rate of Rs. 6,000 per hectare.
Monitoring
In order to ensure
effective monitoring of implementation of the programmes, the
Ministry has financed the computerisation of District Rural Development
Agencies (DRDAs) all over the country. It undertook a pilot project
of providing Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) connectivity
to 15 DRDAs. Each DRDA is developing a web site, which will publish
all the information about the performance of poverty alleviation
programmes.
The year is being
observed as the ‘Year of Implementation’ for improving effectiveness
of implementation of various rural development programmes.
