Around 69% of India’s population lives in the rural areas. Large magnitude of the rural population, their prevailing socio-economic conditions and the quality of life calls for an all-round development in rural infrastructure to achieve the objectives of equitable and inclusive growth with Social Justice.

Steps taken for Rural Infrastructure development and transformation:

• A specific rural infrastructure program called ‘Bharat Nirman’ was launched as a time-bound business
• The six components included under the program are irrigation, drinking water, electrification, roads, housing and rural

The government has continued to lay focus on creation of rural infrastructure through development plans and other subject specific schematic interventions.

Irrigation Infrastructure:

• Creation of irrigation potential and expansion of installed capacity have been important policy objectives of India’s development
• During 2016-17, 99 on-going major/medium Irrigation projects were prioritized for early completion under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)- Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Program.
• The per capita water availability in India is reducing progressively due to increase in its This calls for an integrated water conservation and user-interface irrigation scheme for ensuring maximum water use efficiency.
• The full utilization of irrigation potential requires actions such as:

1. Timely completion of field channels and drains
2. Appropriate land leveling and shaping
3. Involvement of farmers in taking decisions on usability of created

Ruler drinking water supply:

• The National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP)’s concerted focus on the creation and sustaining the rural drinking water infrastructure resulted in the development of infrastructure and capacities for successful operation of drinking water supply schemes in rural
• India’s long term goal is to achieve ‘Har Ghar Jal’ by 2030, in line with the UN’s sustainable development goals i.e., providing safe and adequate drinking water to each rural household.
• The challenge before the government is to ensure:
  • Safe drinking water in the slipped back habitations through the vigorous restoration and defunct bore pumps, carrying out repairs to water supply pipelines, augmentation of supply wherever required; and
  • Sustainability of quality water supply to initiatives already covered under one or other
• The way ahead is to ensure convergence of various rural development initiatives of like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, watershed development, Restoration of water bodies etc.) backed by a need based village level water planning and

Rural Sanitation:

• The world’s largest behavioural change movement was planned and executed through India’s

Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).

• With concerted efforts of the Government and civil society as change makers India could achieve 98% rural sanitation
• The holistic programme has somewhat succeeded in changing the mind-set of citizens by ensuring people’s participation.

Rural Electrification:

• The Government has launched Prime Minister Saubhagya Yojana for providing electricity to all households of the country, in addition to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).
• To ensure quality and sustained power supply in rural areas, there is a need to switch-over from free or subsidy-driven power distribution system to a competitive user-based revenue collection and sharing
• The time has come to ensure active involvement of grass-root Institutions like Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), Non-government organizations (NGOs), Cooperative, etc. in revenue collection, local management, operation and maintenance of power infrastructure in rural areas to assure quality and sustainable supply of

Rural Roads:

• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a one-time special intervention provides rural connectivity, by way of single all-weather road, to the eligible unconnected habitations in the core
• Since all the eligible rural habitations have been connected, the need of the hour is to strengthen and widen its ambit further to include major link routes which connect habitations to agricultural and rural markets, higher secondary schools and hospitals-health

Rural Housing:

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Rural (PMAY-R) came into effect to fulfill the government’s vision of “Housing for all by 2022”.
• The scheme framework allows inclusion of the beneficiaries not covered under socio-economic caste census.
• It provides for a separate beneficiary list to be recorded in the gram sabha resolution.
• While the physical progress in the provision of rural housing and initiatives for inclusion of excluded eligible beneficiaries under rural housing projects is laudable, for effective implementation of the scheme, the beneficiaries need to actively participate throughout the construction

Rural Telephone Connectivity:

• India is trying to transform herself as a digitally empowered society by meeting the information and communications needs of citizens and
• This is possible only when universal, strong and affordable digital communications infrastructure and services are established.
• The country has witnessed a rapid expansion of telecommunication in the last
• To provide every Indian village with telephone access and to cover difficult areas, additional mobile towers have been
• Efforts are also being made to install towers for National Highways to strengthen transmission network.
• The BharatNet project aims at creating network to connect all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayat by broadband

Conclusion:

Considering the implementation issues and challenges of execution of these plans and programmes at the grass-root level, it is expected that the program implementing agencies would bring in good governance and follow best practices to maximize the benefits of such development intervention.