Rural development is vital for the development of Indian economy. Rural development also envisages growth of non -farm sector and development of infrastructural facilities in rural areas. The sector has been witnessing a gradual structural change in recent years.

National Agriculture Policy 2000:

• The first ever National Agriculture Policy announced in 2000 sought to utilize the vast untapped growth potential of India Agriculture, strengthen rural infrastructure to support faster agricultural development, promote value addition, accelerate the growth of agro-business to create employment in rural areas, secure standard of living for the farm families including agricultural labourers’ households, discourage migration to urban areas and face the challenges arising out of economic liberalization and globalization.
• The policy gave high priority to rural electrification, development of market infrastructure and setting up of agro-processing units to reduce wastage of agriculture and horticulture produce and enhance value addition to crate off – farm employment in rural areas.

National Food Security Mission (NFSM):

• The national Food Security Mission was launched by the Government of India during 2007-08.
• NFSM aims at increasing production and productivity of wheat, rice and pulses on a sustainable basis so as to ensure food security of the country.
• The focused and target oriented implementation of mission initiatives has resulted in bumper production of rice, wheat and pulses.

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY):

• It is one of the important flagship programmes of Government of India in agriculture and allied sectors.
• The scheme was introduced in the year 2007-08.
• The ultimate aim is to significantly increase the productivity and eventually maximize the returns of farmers.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY):

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched in 2016 with an objective to provide a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of crops and help in stabilizing the income of the farmer.
• It also encourages farmers to adopt innovative agricultural practices and ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.
• PMFBY contributes to food security, crop diversification and enhancing growth and competitiveness of agriculture sector besides protecting farmers from production risks.

National Agriculture Market (NAM):

• National agriculture Market is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
• The NAM Portal provides a single window service for all APMC related information and services.

Soil Health Management (SHM):

• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) is implemented with the objective
  • To make agriculture more productive, sustainable and climate resilient
  • To conserve natural resources
  • To adopt comprehensive soil health management practices
  • To optimize utilization of water resources etc.
• Soil Health Management (SHM) is one of the most important interventions under NMSA.
• SHM aims at
  • Promoting Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) through judicious use of chemical fertilisers including secondary and micro nutrients in conjunction with organic manures and bio-fertilisers for improving soil health and its productivity
  • Strengthening of soil and fertiliser testing facilities to provide soil test based recommendations to farmers for improving soil fertility
  • Ensuring quality control requirements of fertilisers, bio-fertilisers and organic fertilisers under Fertiliser Control Order, 1985
  • Up gradation of skill and knowledge of soil testing laboratory staff, extension staff and farmers the through training and demonstrations
  • Promoting organic farming practices.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY):

• The major objective of PMKSY is to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water, enhance the adoption of precision – irrigation and other water saving technologies (More crop per drop) enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices by exploring the feasibility of reusing treated municipal waste water for peri-urban agriculture and attract grater private investment in precision irrigation system. 

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY):

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana was launched in order to address the critical importance of soil and water for improving agricultural production.
• The government supports and improves the organic farming practices prevalent in India.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY):

• National Mission for Financial Inclusion was launched in 2014 to ensure access to financial services namely, Banking/Savings &Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, and Pension in an affordable.
• It mostly targets people who are below poverty line and people who don’t have a bank account.

Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM):

• National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India in 2011.
• In 2015, the program was renamed Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM).
• Aided in part through investment support by the World Bank, the Mission aims at crating efficient and effective institutional platforms for the rural poor, enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial services.
• DAY-NRLM believes in harnessing the innate capabilities of the poor and complements them with capacities to participate in the growing economy of the country.

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhaiyan (RGSA):

• The Rashrtiya Gram Swaraj Abhyan strengthens the Panchayati Raj system across the country and addresses critical gaps that constrain its success.
• RGSA seeks to
  • Enhance capacities and effectiveness of Panchayts and the Gram Sabhas.
  • Enable democratic decision – making and accountability in Panchayats and promote people’s participation.
  • Strengthen the institutional structure for knowledge creation and capacity building of Panchayats.
  • Promote devolution of powers and responsibilities to Panchayats according to the spirit of the Constitution and PESA Act. Strengthen Gram Sabhas to function effectively as the basic forum of people’s participation, transparency and accountability within the Panchayat system and create and strengthen democratic local self-government in areas where Pancyats do not exist.

Mission Antyodaya:

• Mission Antyodaya is a convergence framework for measureable effective outcomes on parameters that transform lives and livelihoods.
• It is an effort to address the multidimensionality of poverty in a time bound manner through a convergence of resources both financial and human to provide an opportunity for transformational changes.
• The vision of the scheme is “Poverty Free India by 2022” by all round development in human development, social development, ecological development.
• Mission  Antyodaya aims at “Poverty Quit India “.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS):

• MGNREGS is a social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’.
• The MGNREGA was initiated with the objective of “enhancing livelihood security 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.
• MGNREGA is implemented mainly by Gram Panchayats (GPs) on labour-intensive tasks like creating infrastructure for water harvesting, drought relief and flood control.
• The year 2017-18, is marked by the highest ever budget allocation of Rs.48000 cr. To ensure that MGNREGA workers receive their wages on time, National Electronic Fund Management System (NeFMS) has been put in place.

Conclusion:

• Rural development implies both the economic betterment of people with better prospects for economic development, vibrant agricultural sector, increased participation of people in the rural development programmes and greater access to markets are needed.
• A multi-pronged approach for bridging the urban – rural divide by upgrading the standard of living of people has been adopted in rural areas.
• These initiatives made the people living in rural India much better than what they were a decade ago.