In our country, a very large number of people believe that the area they live and work in is, in some more or less general way "economically backward". Many of them also feel that their requirements have been neglected in the processes of planning. This belief has found expression in the political system and manifests itself in a large number of claims for special treatment put forward by official and non-official organizations. Within the planning system, pleas for taking measure to tackle the problems of backward areas are common in the discussions at the National Development Council, the Planning Commission and the debate in Parliament. Thus, there is widespread public concern about the problem of backward area development.

The more advanced or more rapidly growing areas of the country set standards of production, consumption and economic diversification which the other areas wish to attain. Inequalities which may have been acceptable in a stagnant society now seem invidious and unacceptable because people can see that the prevailing order can be changed. Thus perceptions of backwardness are, to a large extent, a consequence of development.

The people in each area will compare themselves with those in a more advanced area and consider themselves to be backward relative to some area or the other. There are no absolute standards of 'backwardness' as there are no such standards for 'development'. Hence the concept is a relative one and in the ranking of areas, as perceived by them, all but the ones at the top are seen to be 'relatively backward'.

There are no absolute standards of "backwardness" as there are not such standards for 'development'. The root of the problem lies in the lack of clarity on the concept of backwardness and its relevance for the processes of planned development.

For purposes of planning, the areas identified as backward must have three key characteristics:

• They must have potential for development;
• There must be some inhibiting factor which prevents this potential from being realised and
• There must be a need for special programme to remove or mitigate the inhibiting factor and realise the full potential for development.

The district and the block are both suit able from the administrative point of view as they are both recognized levels in the hierarchy of development administration. From the point of view of data availability the position is some' what better at the district level than at the block level.

Areas identified as backward

The National Committee recommended that the following types of problem areas be treated as backward for purpose of planning.

• Chronically drought-prone areas
• Desert areas
• Tribal areas
• Hill areas
• Chronically flood-affected areas
• Coastal areas affected by salinity

These six categories can be viewed as six types of fundamental backwardness. In this sense, an area may suffer from the handicap of more than one type of fundamental backwardness.

Type of Development

Broadly speaking, we can foresee five major types of development which would create growth centres with the substantial potential for generating all round development in the back ward areas surrounding the projects and amongst the people of the area. These are:

• Industrial complexes
• Growing Urban complex
• Raw material exploitation (forest and minerals and industries based thereon)
• Large Irrigation Projects; and
• Hydel and Thermal Projects

The developmental opportunities will arise from the construction and running of the industrial complexes. Opportunities for direct employment in the construction and operational phase of the industries that will be located in the industrial complex.A rapidly growing town attracts a large number of people in direct employment in the industries located there and the secondary and tertiary growth. This will generate a large demand for consumer goods supplies and various domestic services.

The educational requirements of an industrial growth centre would be much more than in a hydel or irrigation project. Similarly, medical facilities will be of a higher order. Unless the necessary infrastructure for both of the right quality is built up the growth centre will not develop and hence further development will not take place.

Transport and communication services will be tremendously important in an industrial growth centre.

Constitutional Provisions

The Indian Constitution envisages a special position for the protection and development of tribal communities. The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution gives the Union Government a special responsibility for the administration of the scheduled areas.

Past approaches to the problems of backwardness

In a large country like India, disparities in levels of development in different parts are inevitable. Regions differ in their history, their resource endowment and environment, the level of infrastructural development and the attitude of the inhabitants to development opportunities.

However, with the growth of communications and the spread of education, knowledge about what is happening in other parts of the country spread and quite naturally the prevailing pattern of regional inequalities becomes unacceptable. There is a demand to correct these inequalities which the political and administrative system has to take note of.

Because of this the problem of regional development in general and of backward area development in particular has been recognized in our plans. It is necessary to know what the plans have to say about regional aspects of development in general.

The First Five Year Plan was a pioneering exercise that recognised that, in the plan, ''the regional aspect with its emphasis on the development of local resources has not been worked out sufficiently" The First Plan did not talk explicitly about the problem of regional in equalities or of backward area development except in the context of industrial location

The Second Five Year Plan dealt more explicitly with the needs of what it described as "the less developed areas". The Plan stated that resource constraints would limit the extent to which this can be done but "as development proceeds and large resources become available for investment, the stress on development programmes should be on extending the benefits of investments to under-developed regions". (Chapter II, Para 28 Second Five Year Plan).

More specifically the Plan proposed that the objective of more balanced development should be attained by (a) programmes for setting up decentralized industrial production (b) consideration of the need for regional balance in the location of new enterprises and (c) steps to promote greater mobility of labour and organize schemes of migration and settlement from more to less densely populated areas.

The problem of balanced regional development received much greater attention in the Third Five Year Plan. The Plan took a more positive view of the possibility of reaching regional balance and stated:—

"A large country with extensive natural resources viewing each phase of its development in the perspective of a long-term plan, has the means not only to realise a high and sustained rate of growth, but also to enable its less developed regions to come up to the level of the rest".

The concern for balanced regional growth and backward area development was thus articulated only in qualitative terms in the first phase of the planning period upto the mid-sixties. Systematic quantitative analysis of the problem of inter-regional inequalities had not been attempted. Though several useful policy initiatives had been suggested nothing very specific was undertaken except possibly for the loca­tion of several major industrial projects in backward areas away from the industrial centres. Many of these, like the steel plants, where specific location and their establishment in the interior was largely a consequence of the fact that the bulk of the raw materials required were located there.

The growing concern for redressal of regional imbalances found expression in the Fourth Five Year Plan which was formulated in 1969-70. The concern for regional inequalities was manifested in the Fourth Plan's articulation of the policy objectives for agriculture where, along with the maximization of production, the remedying of imbalances was given equal prominence.

In pursuance of this latter objective the Plan included special programmes for dry farming, for desert areas and for small farmers and agricultural laborers. This very explicit concern for neglected areas and classes was a significant shift in the orientation of development policy.

Thus by the time the Fifth Plan started in April 1974, the major features of the policy on backward area development had emerged. In terms of typology, desert and drought prone areas, hill areas and tribal areas were considered to be areas in need of special attention. The approach advocated focused attention on integrated planning for a variety of activities rather than any limited sectoral programme.

The special role of the Central Government in promoting the development of these backward areas was recognised. These are the elements that found full expression in the Fifth Plan. The principal innovation in this plan was the acceptance of the sub-plan approach in tribal areas.

It is clear that the problem of regional balance and of backwardness has attracted the attention of planners.

The emphasis has been on backwardness in terms of economic performance though the impact of historical and social factors on economic matters has been recognised. A clear concept of backwardness seems to be missing and the term is used in a more or less vague sense to designate areas that do not seem to be benefiting adequately from general development measures.

The more concrete steps taken involve mainly special schemes like the subsidies for industry or the special area development programmes. Many of these special schemes are more palliatives that fail to tackle the root of the problems of backwardness.

What seems to be missing is the recognition that most backward areas have a potential for growth which can be tapped if certain special initiatives are taken. The important task of planning for backward areas is to identify what these special initiatives are in each type of backward area.

The major problems which are more or less common to backward areas:

• The terrain is usually rocky and undulating and land available for agricul­tural operation is limited.
• Hills have problems arising from land slides and soil erosion.
• There is lack of adequate irrigation sources and what there is has a high cost of exploitation and maintenance.
• Communications and transportation facilities in hill areas are often inadequate.
• Agro-processing and storage facilities remain inadequate.
• There is a lack of suitable and adequate marketing facilities in hill areas particularly those located away from the hill stations and important towns.
• Terms of trade are unfair. Producers get low prices for their produce and at the same time the people in hill areas have to pay exorbitant prices for what they require.
• There is a general reluctant on the part of officials and staff to take up assignment in these areas. Because of out-migration of the educated and skilled adults local people remaining behind are not educated and advanced enough yet to fill up the gap.
• Records of right in land are inadequate.

Elimination of exploitation

The majority of the people in the hill areas are living at the subsistence level and, therefore, there is an urgent need to raise the productive capacity of the economy by encouraging income-generating activities like horticulture, animal husbandry, social forestry, tourism, etc. This may mean a change from a subsistence food crop to possible cash crops which may give more return.

Elimination of exploitation is the essential first step. The basic approach and development policy in tribal areas has, quite correctly, laid great stress on protective measures.

The strategy for tribal development, therefore, should stress measures for building the inner strength of the community so that they are able to face, as quickly as possible, the new system on terms of equality.

Basic approach

The majority of the people in the hill areas are living at the subsistence level and, therefore, there is an urgent need to raise the productive capacity of the economy by encouraging income generating activities like horticulture, animal husbandry, social forestry, tourism, etc. This may mean a change from a subsistence food crop to possible cash crops which may give more return.

Then there is the problem of out-migration of adult males in search of employment outside imposing a heavy burden on women. In order to slow the progress of outmigration, generation of gainful employment locally has to receive a high priority for improving the quality of life of the people.

Collection of fire wood and bringing water from long distances occupy a great deal of time of women in hill areas. To reduce the drudgery of the women folk in these pursuits and also for providing them with subsidiary occupations to raise their standard of living, problems of supply of fuel, food and drinking water should be tackled on a priority basis.

Watershed approach

Social groups and village boundaries are generally co terminus with watersheds as communication across watersheds is difficult because of the terrain. The Committee, therefore, recommended that the watershed should be the primary planning unit rather than a block or a district.

The watershed approach provides a sound basis for programming of soil conservation, water harvesting and harnessing of land use and planning social institutions. It is also possible to delineate watersheds into micro and mini-watersheds.

A mini-watershed may be equated with the concept of a focal point and may cover an area of a cluster of villages with a population coverage of a fifth or sixth of a block population and micro watershed may cover an area of 1000 to 1500 hectares.

The watershed approach should mean planning and implementing soil conservation programmes for all types of lands and associated drainage system in the watershed within a reasonable time frame, with the objective of providing maximum protection to existing land and water resources while optimizing their use for increasing production and employment benefits.

Education and the tribals

The most important aspect of education in tribal areas has to be that the community should be enabled to have a clear perspective of their relationship with the modern system.

Education in the elementary schools should be location specific.

The curriculum should be suitably restructured so as to have elements of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, cottage industry, etc. and the teaching of subjects should be relatable to specific problems. A programme of 'citizen education' with a comprehensive frame covering the needs of all sections of the tribal population is necessary. This should basically aim at protecting the community from a sudden cultural shock and enable it to graduate through the transitional phase without any erosion of their economic base.

Forests and the tribals

The tribal communities in India largely occupy the forest regions where, for a long period in their history, they have lived in comparative isolation.

The tribal community which has symbiotic relationship with the forests should be accepted as partners in the local forestry development efforts in each area.

It is necessary that a systematic plan of action is worked out for minor forest produce so as to eliminate exploitation. The price of minor forest produce should be remunerative and linked to the market price and all leases for collection of minor forest produce should be given exclusively to cooperatives of tribals. It is also necessary that the first processing of minor forest produce is organized within the tribal areas and through the cooperative system.

Another important aspect of forest and the tribal economy which needs urgent attention is the method of working of forests. The bulk of the labour is casual and seasonal and recruitment is often through contractors. The essential tasks are cooperativisation of forest labour, making forestry operation as dependable a source of employment as is possible and giving the community a sense of participation by sharing with them the profits of forestry activity within the area.

An important problem for forest policy in tribal areas is that of shifting cultivation (jhum). The strategy for controlling shifting cultivation must depend on the extent to which the jhum cycle has been reduced. The problem is so widespread particularly in the north-eastern region that all the households involved in shifting cultivation cannot be made to change over to settled cultivation even within a time period of 5 to 10 years.

In areas where the cycles is less than 5 years also, immediate steps to promote a settled cultivation should be taken. The remaining areas will probably deteriorate in a few years and in these preliminary steps towards settled cultivation must be started.

Rural Marketing

The objectives of an efficient rural marketing system are:

• to enable the primary producers to get the best price ;
• to provide facilities for lifting of produce which the producers are willing to sell at a reasonable price;
• to reduce the price spread between the primary producers and ultimate consumers ;
• to make available all products of farm origin to consumers at a reasonable price without impairing the quality of the produce

Animal Husbandry Schemes

The promotion of animal husbandry and dairy development has formed a major proportion of the activities encouraged and financed in various rural development programmes. Among the credit linked schemes, animal husbandry has usually been the most important.

The activities included under this heading are assistance in the acquisition of: milch animals ,sheep units,plough bullocks ,poultry ,piggeries, bullock carts

Organization and administration

The effective implementation of the strategy for the development of backward areas will require substantial strengthening and streamlining of administration as well as changes in the modalities of financing and implementation of development projects.

The National Committee recognised the importance of this aspect and therefore dealt with it in its very first report on Organisation of Administrative and Financial Structures for Backward Area Development.

The National Committee in its report on the organisation of administrative and financial structure for backward areas development has suggested a certain approach to planning and implementation. It has indicated that the essential requirement of planning and administration at the areas must be as follows :

• It must offer coordination of the political, administrative and local institutions for determining the programme of development for the area and the manner in which it can be implemented, thus enabling direct interaction between citizens, panchayati raj bodies., non-official agencies like cooperatives and implementing agencies.
• It must bring together all the administrative operations at the area level under effective coordination and a minimum effective control. Of a single agency to be able to effectively counteract the powerful forces of centralization and fragmented decision making, associated with vertical administrative hierarchies dealing with separate segments of the economy.
• It must provide an effective mechanism for formulating a programme of development based upon the local resources, needs, and expectations of the people.
• It must interact with the existing institutions and local bodies and bring an administrative cohesion in these bodies by persuasion and get an agreed participation in the development programme with specific responsibility for their part in the programme.
• It must clearly lay down a programme of work for the participating agencies which would be made responsible for the proper execution of their respective assignments.

Important Rural Area Development Schemes - Past & Present

Bhoodan Movement

• Launched in 1951 by Acharya Vinoba Bhave from Pochampally village now in Telangana
• Can be called a voluntary land reform movement also
• Wealthy land owners were motivated to voluntarily give a portion of their land to the lower caste people
• Over 5 million acres of land was donated under the scheme (the target set was 50 million acres)

ARWSP – Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme

• Launched – 1972-73
• Ministry: Ministry of Rural Development
• Funding – 100% Centrally sponsored
• To assist state & UTs to accelerate pace of coverage of drinking water supply.
• Target: To provide every habitation with safe & adequate drinking water.
• Entire programme was given a mission approach with launch of the technology mission on drinking water & related water management in 1986, renamed as ‘Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission’ in 1991.

Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP)

• Launched – 1973-74
• Ministry:Ministry of Rural Development 
• Funding – Initially cost sharing 50:50 between centre & state till March 1999
• From 1 April 1999, funding shared 75:25 basis between Centre &State
• Objective – Minimise adverse effects of drought on production of crops, livestock & productivity of land, water & human resources
• Promoting overall economic development & improving socio-economic condition of resource poor

Twenty-Point Programme

• Launched initially by the then PM Indra Gandhi in 1975
• Administered by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India
• Restructured in 1982, 1986 & finally in 2006
• Programmes and schemes under TPP 2006 were in harmony with priorities contained in the National common minimum programme, Millennium Development goals of UN & SAARC social charter
• The 2006-restructured programmes covers various socio-economic aspects such as poverty, employment, education, housing, health, agriculture, land reforms, irrigation, drinking water, protection and empowerment of weaker sections, consumer protection, environment, e-Governance, etc.

Desert Development Programme – DDP

• Launched – 1977-78
• Ministry:Ministry of Rural Development 
• Started in hot desert areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat & Haryana and cold desert of Jammu&Kashmir& Himachal Pradesh
• 1995-96 the coverage was extended to few more districts of Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka
• Objective – To mitigate adverse effects of desertification on crops, human &livestock population
• Restore ecological balance by harmonizing, conserving & developing natural resources
• To implement development works through water shed approach, for land development, water resource development & afforestation

TRYSEM – Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment

• Intorduced in 1979
• Supporting component of IRDP
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Objective – Provide basic technical & entrepreneual skills to rural youth from BPL family to enable them to take up self employment & wage employment in broad fields of agriculture & allied sectors namely industries, services & business activities.
• Target group – Rural Youth between age of 18-35 years.

Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)

• Launched – 1980-81
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Funding – Centrally sponsored scheme operational in all blocks of country.
• Target group:small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers and rural artisans living below the poverty line.Within the target group, there is an assured coverage of 50 per cent for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, 40 per cent for women and 3 per cent for the physically handicapped. 
• Objective – Holistic programme covering all aspects of self-employment, namely organization of beneficiaries & their capacity building, planning of activity clusters, infrastructure technology, credit & marketing.
• Features – Existing sub-schemes of TRYSEM, SITRA, DWCRA & GKY were merged into IRDP.
• Progressive shift from individual beneficiary approach to group & cluster approach.
• Promotion of multiple credits rather than one time credit injection.
• The Scheme is merged with another Scheme named Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) since 01.04.1999.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Gramin

• It replaces Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), which was launched as a subscheme of JawaharRozgarYojana in 1985.
• IAY aims at helping rural people below the poverty-line (BPL) in construction of dwelling units and upgradation of existing unserviceable kutcha houses by providing assistance in the form of full grant.
• Beneficiariesare people belonging to SCs/STs, freed bonded labourers and non-SC/ST categories, widows or next-of-kin of defence personnel killed in action, ex-servicemen and retired members of the paramilitary forces, Disabled persons and Minorities.
• It will be implemented in rural areas across the country except Delhi and Chandigarh
• Government to construct 1 crorepucca (permanent) houses for the rural poor in the next three years.
• The project will be implemented in a span of three years and expected to boost job creation in rural areas.
• Beneficiaries of the rural houses would be chosen according to data taken from the Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011
• An allowance of Rs.1,20,000 in plain areas and Rs.130,000 in hilly areas will be provided.
• The unit size will be enhanced from the existing 20 sq.mt. to up to 25 sq.mt. including a dedicated area for hygienic cooking.
• Funds will be transferred electronically directly to the account of the beneficiary.
• The beneficiary would be facilitated to avail loan of up to Rs.70,000 for construction of the house which is optional.

Indra Awas Yojana (IAY)

• Launched: 1985-86
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Feature – Houses to BPL rural households belonging to SC & ST, free bonded labourers, non SC/ST rural households, widows & physically handicapped persons living in rural areas.
• Funding – Cost sharing 75:25 between centre & states.
• In North-eastern states, cost sharing revised to 90:10.
• In UT, entire funds provided by Centre.

STEP – Support to Training & Employment Programme

• Launched in 1986
• Ministry: Department of Women & Child development, Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• Objective – Extending training for upgradation of skills & sustainable employment for women through variety of action oriented projects.
• Target group – Marginalized, asset less rural women & urban poor with special focus on SC/ST households, women headed households & BPL families.
• Schemes covers 8 traditional sectors of employment vizAgriculture, Small animal husbandry, Dairying,  Fisheries, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Khadi & village industries, Sericulture. Two more sectors Social forestry & waste development have been added later.

Central Rural Sanitation Programme

• Launched: 1986
• Ministry: Ministry of Rural Development
• Objective: To provide subsidy for construction of sanitary latrine to the beneficiaries of rural areas below poverty line.
• Features: 80% of amount is to be given as subsidy & 20% will be beneficiary contribution.
• Construction work may be done by beneficiaries themselves.
• Target: All persons coming under BPL.
• Time frame: Beneficiaries can approach BDO with application for grant of subsidy under scheme. After inspection, work order will be issued within 1 week

Million Wells Scheme

• Launched – 1988-89 (Seventh Five year plan period)
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Objective – To provide open irrigation wells free of cost
• Tube wells & bore wells are not to be taken up under this provision
• Where wells are not feasible due to geological factors, funds may beutilized for minor irrigation like irrigation tanks, water harvestingstructure.
• Target group – Small & marginal farmers who are below poverty line
• Beneficiaries themselves have to undertake the construction of their wells through their own labour & local labour for which they will be paid.
• In no case, work will be entrusted to a contractor.
• If wells meet with failure after digging, a certificate to this effect will be produced by DRDA, compensation shall be provided to the extent of 100% of expenditure incurred by farmer.

Jawahar Rojgar Yojna (JRY)

• Launched – 1989-90 (Seventh Five Year Plan period)
• By amalgating National Rural Employment programme (NREP) & Rural landless Employee Guarantee Programme (RLEGP)
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India
• Funding – 80:20 cost sharing basis between centre & states
• Main objective – Additional gainful employment for under-employed & unemployed persons in rural area
• Target group – People below poverty line
• Gram Panchayat is to be involved in planning & implementation of program
• 30% of employment opportunities to be reserved for women

Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP)

• Funding – Centrally sponsored programme
• Ministry/Department-Agriculture Department
• Launched – 1989-90
• From April 1995, programme is implemented through water shed approach under common guidelines for water shed development
• Objectives – Developing wastelands / degraded lands on watershed basis
• Promoting the overall economic development & improving socio-economic condition of resource poor & disadvantaged section
• Restoring ecological balance by harvesting, conserving & developing natural resources – land, water & vegetative cover
• Employment generation, poverty alleviation, community empowerment & development of human resource

SITRA – Supply of Improved Toolkits to Rural Artisans

• Launched in 1992 as a sub-scheme of the IRDP
• Objective – Improved toolkits are identified for various traders of rural artisans & distributed at 90% subsidy in order to improve the productivity & hence overall quality of life of rural artisans.
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Toolkits are supplied to artisans in following trades :1. Carpentry, 2. Mason,3. Mat Weaving, 4. Blacksmith, 5. Goldsmith
• Eligibility : Any rural artisans from BPL family
• Time frame – Applications will be collected by Blocks.
• Based on requirement of toolkits, tenders will be floated.
• After supply of toolkits is finalized, tools will be supplied to blocks within one month.
• Beneficiaries will be hathe nded over toolkits within next 15 days.

EAS – Employment Assurance Scheme

• Launched in 1993
• Administered by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India
• Implemented in 1778 identified backward blocks.
• Blocks were selected covering drought-prone areas, desert, tribal & hilly areas
• Later the scheme was extended to the remaining blocks of the country in a phased manner
• Programme was restructured from 1 April 1999
• Primary Objective was to provide gainful employment during the lean agricultural season in manual work to all able-bodied adults in rural areas who are in need & desirous of work but cannot find it
• Secondary Objective was the creation of community, social & economic assets for sustained employment & development

REGP-Rural Employment Guarantee Programme

• Launched in 1995 by Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) for generation of 2 million jobs under KVI sector in rural areas
• Administered by:Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) will be the single National level nodalimplementation agency
• Objective:

1. To generate employment in rural areas
2. To develop entrepreneurial skills among rural unemployed youth
3. To achieve the goal of rural industrialization
4. To facilitate participation of financial institutions for higher credit flowto rural industries

• Beneficiaries – Applicable to all village industries project set up in rural areas
• Eligible agencies under scheme – Individuals
• Institutions, cooperative societies, trusts & SHG for projects upto 25 lakh
• Banks will sanction 90% project cost in case of general category borrower & 95% of project cost in case of weaker sections
• Implementation: KVIC is implementing REGP through public sector banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks approved by the state

Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY)

• Restructured, streamlined & comprehensive version of JRY
• Launched – 1 April 1999
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Designed to improve quality of life of rural poor by providing themadditional gainful employment.
• Primary objective – Creation of demand driven village infrastructure including durable assets to enable the rural poor to increase opportunities of sustained employment.
• Secondary objective – Generation of supplementary employment for unemployed poor in rural areas.

Swarnjyanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY)

• Launched – 1 April 1999
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Restructuring & merging self-employment programmes like IRDP, TRYSEM, SITRA, DWCRA& Ganga Kalyan Yojana.
• Funding – 75:25 between Centre & States
• Features – Only self-employed programme implemented for rural poor.
• Providing income generating assets through bank credit &Government subsidy.
• The SGSY concentrates on the marginalized sections of society. Accordingly, SC/STs comprise 50 percent, women 40% and the physically challenged make up 3% of the total beneficiaries from the scheme.
• Upto March 2009, 34 lakh self-help groups (SHG) have been formed.

Credit cum Subsidy scheme for Rural Housing

• Conceived for rural households having annual income upto Rs. 32,000.
• Launched: April 1999
• Funding:Centre and the State in the ratio of 75:25 respectively.
• Objective – To facilitate construction of houses for all households who have same   repayment capacity.
• Strategy: Rural 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.

Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

• Launched – December 2000
• Department/Ministry: Department of food & public distribution
• Beneficiaries – BPL families covered under targeted Public Distribution System
• Features – 25 kg food grains made available to eligible family at highly subsidized rate of Rs. 21 kg for wheat & Rs. 31 kg for rice
• Quantity enhanced from 25 to 35 kg from April 2002
• June 2003, expanded to all BPL families

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

• Launched – 25 December 2000
• Ministry: Ministry of Rural Development
• Funding – 100% Centrally sponsored scheme
• Funded from accruals of diesel cess in Central Road Fund.
• Features – Provides all weather connectivity to all eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas with population of 500 persons of more (250in case of hilly, desert & tribal areas).
• National Rural Roads Development Agency (NRRDA) provides operation & management.

Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

• An initiative launched in 2000 during the time of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee
• In 2018, it subsumed three schemes

1. Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
2. Teacher Education
3. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

• It seeks to provide free education to every child of the country in order to fulfil his/her basic fundamental right of education
• The budget of the scheme is shared by the Centre and States where Centre contributes 85% of the expenditure.

Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)

• Launched – 2000-01
• Ministry/Department:Community and Rural Development Department.
• Objective – To promote sustainable human development at village level.
• Initially had 5 components

1. Primary Health
2. Primary Education
3. Rural shelter
4. Rural drinking water
5. Nutrition

• Rural electrification added as an additional component from 2001-02

Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)

• Launched – September 2001
• Ministry/Department:Community and Rural Development Department
• Funding – 75:25 between Centre & State
• Beneficiaries – Open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment
• Features – Additional wage employment in rural areas
• Provide food security along with creation of durable community social & economic infrastructure in rural areas
• Launched by merging Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) & Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS)
• Implemented through Panchayati Raj institutions
• Entirely subsumed in NREGS with effect from 1 April 2008

National Food for Work Programme (NFWP)

Launched – 2004-05 (Tenth Five Year plan period)

Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.

Funding – 100% Centrally sponsored

• Objective – To intensify the generation of supplementary wage employment in 150 most backward districts of the country identified by Planning         Commission.
• Features – Meant for providing wage employment in natural calamity affected states, preference shall be given to labour intensive work which would        help in drought proofing such as moisture conservation, watershed development works, water harvesting, construction of roads, de-silting of ponds.
• Distribution of foodgrains at worksite or through PDS.
• Payment of wages, cash as well as foodgrains must be made weekly.
• This scheme has been subsumed in NREGS.

NREGS - National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

• NREGA was passed in September 2005, implemented from February 2006 in 200 identified districts
• Expanded to 330 districts in second phase during 2007-08
• Remaining 274 districts were notified in September 2008 & now it’s extended to all districts in the country
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India
• SGRY & National Food for work Programme has been subsumed under NREGS
• Jean Dreze, a Belgian economist had major influence on this project
• Objective: - NREGA aims at enhancing livelihood security of households in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work
• Features – Demand driven programmes
• Employment to be provided on demand, within 15 days
• Any adult member of a registered household can apply for work at any time
• Minimum wages to be provided to all labourers
• No contractors & machinery should be used
• No gender discrimination of any kind
• Act mandates 33% women participation
• Block is the basic unit of implementation
• Gram Panchayats are the main implementing agencies
• Social Audit – All NREGA related documents to be available for public scrutiny
• Citizen information board – Introduced to enable local community to know works being undertaken under NREGA
• Ombudsman – in each district for effective grievance redressel

Permissible Works

• Water conservation & water harvesting, Drought proofing, Afforestation, Renovation of traditional water bodies, De-silting of tanks, Land development, Flood control, Drainage in water logged areas, Rural connectivity to provide all weather access

Bharat Nirman

• Launched – 2005-06
• Ministry: Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Components – 6 Components

1.  Rural Housing – Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), this scheme is merged into Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas yojana.
2. Rural Roads – Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
3. National Rural drinking water programme
4. Irrigation – Accelerated irrigation benefit programme (AIBP)
5. Rural Telephony
6. Electrification – Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) was launched previously. But now it is replaced by Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana'

Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme

• Launched on 15^th August 2008
• Administered by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) will be the single National level nodal implementation agency for PMEGP
• At the State level, the Scheme will be implemented through State KVIC Directorates, State Khadi and Village Industries Boards (KVIBs) and District IndustriesCenters (DICs), and banks
• Introduced by merging 2 schemes

1. Rural employment generation programme (REGP)
2. Prime Minister Rojgar Yojana (PMRY)

• It is a credit-linked subsidy programme of Government of India.

Objectives:

• To generate employment opportunities in rural as well as urban areas of the country through setting up of new self employment ventures/projects/micro enterprises.
• To bring together widely dispersed traditional artisans/ rural and urban unemployed youth and give them self employment -opportunities to the extent possible, at their place.
• To provide continuous and sustainable employment to a large segment of traditional and prospective artisans and rural and urban unemployed youth in the country, so as to help arrest migration of rural youth to urban areas.
• To increase the wage earning capacity of artisans and contribute to increase in the growth rate of rural and urban employment.

National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)

• Launched – 2010-11
• Ministry:Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India.
• Restructuring Swarnjyanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY)
• Funding – 75:25 between Centre & States; 90:10 in case of North-Eastern States.
• Objective – Reduce poverty among rural BPL by promoting diversified & gainful self-employment & wage employment opportunities which would lead        to an appreciable increase in income on sustainable basis.
• In long run, it will ensure broad based inclusive growth.

Guiding principles

• Poor have strong desire to come out of Poverty & have inmate capabilities.
• Social mobilization & building strong institutions of poor is critical for unleashing the capabilities.
• An external dedicated & sensitive support structure is required to induce social mobilization.
• Multi pronged approach to strengthen livelihoods of rural poor by
• Promoting SHGs
• Improving existing occupations
• Providing skill development

Key Features

• Sensitive Support structure at National, State, District & Sub-district level.
• Universal social mobilization
• Promotions of institutions of the poor
• Demand driven strategy
• Training & capacity building
• Universal financial inclusion
• Skill development & Placement for wage employment
• Improved transparency & monitoring

Prime Minister Rural Development Fellowship Scheme

• Launched in 2011
• An initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development
• Implemented with the collaboration of state governments
• Two objectives:

1. To provide short-term support to the district administration in the underdeveloped and remote areas of the country;
2. To develop committed leaders and facilitators who are competent enough to serve as a long-term resource 

Rainfed Area Development Programme (RADP)

• The RADP was implemented in 2011-12 as a sub-scheme of Rashtriya Krishi VikasYojana (RKVY).
• State Agriculture Department, the nodal agency for implementation of RKVY, will also be implementing RADP

Objectives

•  Increasing agricultural productivity of rainfed areas in a sustainable manner by adopting appropriate farming system-based approaches.
• To minimize the adverse impact of possible crop failure due to drought, flood or un-even rainfall distribution through diversified and compositefarming systems.
• Restoration of confidence in rainfed agriculture by creating sustained employment opportunities throughimproved on-farm technologies andcultivation practices.
• Enhancement of farmers' income and livelihood support for reduction ofpoverty in rainfed areas.
• Convergence of relevant developmental programmes in project areas for optimal utilization of resources by establishing anintegrated and coordinated system involving different sectors andinstitutions.

Major strategies

• Farmer -centric approach focusing mainly on small and marginal farmers, for promoting   the concept of a diversified farming system.
• Adoption of a cluster approach in a village or an area of not less than 25 Ha would be   preferred   for   injecting investments to utilize the potential of available/created common resources.

Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

• Launched in 2014 by the Centre
• In this, every member of Parliament is to take the responsibility of the development of three villages including personnel, human, social, environmental and economic development of the villages
• Its main objective is to achieve better standard of living as well as the quality of life in the villages

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana

• Launched in 2014
• Under the Yojana, the Union Ministry of Rural Development will launch skill development training centres on a large scale to address the problem of unemployment particularly in rural India.

Main Highlights of the Rural Scheme

• The Yojana aims at training 10 lakh (1 million) rural youths for jobs in three years, that is, by 2017.
• The minimum age for entry under the Yojana is 15 years compared to 18 years under the Aajeevika Skills Programme.
• Skill development training centres to be launched so as to address the unemployment problem in the rural area.
• The skills imparted under the Yojana will now be benchmarked against international standards and will complement the Prime Minister’s Make In India campaign.
• The Kaushalya Yojana will also the address the need for imparting training to the differently-able persons and chip in private players including international players to impart the skills to the rural youths.

Special initiatives under DDU-GKY

Himayat 

A special scheme for the youth (rural & urban) of Jammu & Kashmir.

Roshni

A special initiative for the rural youth of poor families in 27 Left-wing Extremist (LWE) districts across 9 states.

Kaushal Panjee

• Kaushal Panjee‘ (Skill Register) is a mobilisation platform for skill development.
• The skill register aims to be citizen centric end-to-end solution to aid mobilization of candidates for DeenDayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI).
• It facilitates mobilization through Self Help Group members, Gram Panchayat Functionaries, Block Officials, and CommonService Centres and directly by the candidate.
• RSETIs and DDU-GKY Partners can access the Kaushal Panjee to connect with the mobilized rural youth. 
• Kaushal Panjee is connected to the Social Economic Caste Census 2011 which will help the States plan and target their mobilizations based on the socio-economic profile of households in their State.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

• Under the scheme, the government plans to invest 756 billion Rupees (11 billion US Dollars) for rural electrification. The scheme will replace the existing Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY).
• Keeping in view the above problems, the Ministry of Power, Government of India launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana for rural areas having the following objectives:

1. To provide electrification to all villages
2. Feeder separation to ensure sufficient power to farmers and regular supply to other consumers.
3. Improvement of sub-transmission and distribution network to improve the quality and reliability of the supply.
4. Metering to reduce the losses.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana

• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Livelihoods Mission was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2011 as a restructured version of Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana.
• In 2015, the programme was renamed Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana.
• It is a Government of India scheme for the helping the poor by providing skill training. Government of India has provisioned 500 crore for the scheme.
• It replace Aajevika.
• The targets is training 0.5 million people in urban area per annum from 2016 and in rural area it is training 1 million people by 2017. Further, in urban areas services like SHG promotion, training centres, vendors markets, permanent shelters for homeless will be provided for.
• The aim of scheme is skill development of both rural and urban India as per requisite international standards.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), the flagship of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has been implemented by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) through a network of 1012 training partners affiliated to the scheme.
• It has been implemented across all 29 states and 6 union territories of the country, and covered 596 districts and 531 constituencies.
• It addresses the requirement for skill development across 29 sectors in which around 566 job roles have been identified for courses in which the youth can enrol and can get trained.
• This scheme benefit 24 lakh youth at an approximate total cost of Rs.1,500 crores

Key features

• Standards- Training will be done against standards (National Occupational Standards - NOS and Qualification Packs - QPs for specific job roles) formulated by industry-driven bodies, namely the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs). Third party assessments for skill training will be done based on national (and often) global standards.
• Direct Fund Transfer- It will have complete transparent funding of skill training without any intermediaries with monetary rewards directly transferred to the trainees bank account. It will ensure financial inclusion with a provision of unique multi-wallet facility linked to debit card and accidental insurance. Aadhaar number will be used for unique identification of each candidate.
• Demand-driven targets: Based on assessment of skill demand and the Skill Gap Studies, target for skill training would be allocated to training providers by job-role and by district/city to the extent possible, by NSDC in consultation with the SSCs, States/UTs and the Central Ministries/Departments under the oversight of the Steering Committee of PMKVY.
• Target aligned to national flagship programmes and regions: Target for skill training would be aligned to the demand from the Central Governments flagship programmes, such as - Swachh Bharat, Make in India, Digital India, National Solar Mission and so on.
• Supply side perspective in target fixation: Skill training under PMKVY would essentially target drop out students after class 10 and class 12 and hence these numbers will be taken into consideration while deciding state / district wise targets. There will be special focus on youth in regions affected by left-wing extremists and from North Eastern States and J&K.
• Recognition of prior learning (RPL): Under PMKVY, trainees with prior experience or skills and competencies will be assessed and they will also be given monetary rewards for undergoing assessments. This will be an important step towards recognising the skills possessed by workers working in the informal sector and their inclusion. This will also facilitate the process of skill upgradation and re-skilling of the existing workforce. The focus of RPL would be on those job-roles/sectors in which it is most desired and it will be accompanied with a strong advocacy campaign to promote a paradigm shift in the labour market to make skill training to standards aspirational.
• Variable amount of monetary reward: Monetary reward for various job roles within a sector would also vary. This amount would be arrived at after taking various factors like cost of training, willingness of trainees for pay and other relevant factors into consideration. Higher incentives will be given to training in manufacturing, construction and plumbing sectors.
• Robust regime for registration of training providers: NSDC training partners undergo due diligence before being registered with NSDC. Government affiliated training centres and other training partners will be approved by the SSCs on the basis of guidelines issued by NSDC. Under PMKVY, even the government affiliated training providers will undergo due diligence as per the process manual. Each training partner would be responsible for its entire franchisee network and the infrastructure of training centers. The same will be part of the monitoring process. Only first level of franchising would be allowed but the same should be declared in advance and validated on the basis of random sampling as per guidelines in the process manual.
• Focussed awareness building and mobilisation activities: Awareness building & mobilization activities would be carried out with the involvement of local State and district governments as well as involve Members of Parliament in the activities to ensure greater outreach and ownership.
• Improved curricula, better pedagogy and trained instructors: While, the thrust would be on outcomes in terms of third party assessment/certification, but support for improved curricula, better technology enabled pedagogy and upgrading the capacity of instructors would enable improving the overall ecosystem for high quality skill training in the country. All skill training would include soft skill training, personal grooming, behavioural change for cleanliness, and good work ethics as a part of the training curricula.
• Enhanced monitoring: To monitor the training process, SSCs will be tasked with verifying and recording details of all training centres on the Skill Development Management System (SDMS), and ascertain quality of training locations and courses through certified assessors during the time of assessments. Possibility of putting in place a system of bio-metric attendance and sample video recording would be explored.
• Mentorship support: A mentorship programme will be created in order to support trainees who have successfully completed the training programme and are in the process of looking for employment opportunities. Training providers will be responsible for identifying mentors who will support and guide trainees in the post-training phase. These mentors will provide career guidance and counselling for trainees once they have completed training and will also help connect them to employment opportunities. This mentorship programme will also facilitate the tracking of trainees in the post training phase.
• Evaluation: Trainee feedback based on validated standard format obtained at the time of assessment will become the key element of the evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness and scale up of PMKVY in future.
•  Grievance redressal: A proper grievance redressal mechanism would be put in place. Online Citizens Portal would be set up to disseminate information about PMKVY. This would also serve as a platform for redressal of grievances. The portal would also include a complete database of all available courses and training centres under PMKVY.

Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM)

This scheme is launched in 2016 with an ambition to  transform rural areas to economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces.

About Scheme

•  The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which have latent potential for growth, in all States and UTs, which would trigger overall development in the region.
• These clusters would be developed by provisioning of economic activities, developing skills & local entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities. The Rurban Mission will thus develop a cluster of Smart Villages.
• These clusters would be well delineated areas with planned layouts prepared following the planning norms (as laid down in the State Town and Country Planning Acts/similar Central or State statutes as may be applicable), which would be duly notified by the State/UTs.
• These plans would be finally integrated with the District Plans/Master Plans as the case may be.
• The State Governments would identify the clusters in accordance with the Framework for Implementation prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development.
• The clusters will be geographically contiguous Gram Panchayats with a population of about 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas.
• There would be a separate approach for selection of clusters in Tribal and Non-Tribal Districts.
• As far as practicable, clusters of village would follow administrative convergence units of Gram Panchayats.
• For the selection of clusters, the Ministry of Rural Development is adopting a scientific process of cluster selection which involves an objective analysis at the District, Sub District and Village level, of the demography, economy, tourism and pilgrimage significance and transportation corridor impact.
• The mission aims to create 300 such Rurban growth clusters over the next 3 years, across the country.
• The funding for Rurban Clusters will be through various schemes of the Government converged into the cluster.
• The SPMRM will provide an additional funding support of upto 30 percent of the project cost per cluster as Critical Gap Funding (CGF) as Central Share to enable development of such Rurban clusters.
• To ensure an optimum level of development, 14  components have been suggested as desirable for the cluster, which would include;  Skill development training linked to economic activities, Agro Processing/Agri Services/Storage and Warehousing, Digital Literacy, Sanitation, Provision of piped water supply, Solid and liquid waste management, Village streets and drains, Street lights, Fully equipped mobile health unit, Upgrading school /higher education facilities, Inter-village road connectivity, Citizen Service Centres- for electronic delivery of citizen centric services/e-gram connectivity, Public transport., LPG gas connections.
• The States would prepare Integrated Cluster Action Plans for Rurban Clusters, which would be comprehensive plan documents detailing out the strategy for the cluster, desired outcomes  for the cluster under the mission, along with the resources to be converged under various Central Sector, Centrally Sponsored and State Sector schemes, and the Critical Gap Funding (CGF) required for the cluster.
• The Mission envisages institutional arrangements both at the State and Center to ensure smooth implementation of the Mission.
• The Mission also has an Innovation budget towards facilitating research, development and capacity building.

Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana

• Launched in 2017
• It is a new sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya DAY-NRLM
• Its main objective is to provide an alternative source of livelihood to members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and facilitate them to operate public transport services in backward rural areas.
• Thus it will provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport to connect remote villages with key services and amenities.
• It will be implemented in 250 blocks in the country on a pilot basis for a period of 3 years from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
• Under this scheme, Community Based Organisation (CBO) will provide interest free loan from its own corpus to the Self Help Group members for purchase of vehicles.