On 21st February 2020, the 4th Anniversary of the launch of SPMRM was Observed.SPMRM is a scheme launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) in 2016 to deliver integrated project based infrastructure in the rural areas, which will also include development of economic activities and skill development.
A predecessor to SPMRM was the Provision of Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA) which was announced in 2003.Its objective of this mission is Bridging the rural-urban divide-viz: economic, technological and those related to facilities and services.There are 2 categories of clusters: Non-Tribal and Tribal.
Rurban clusters are identified across the country’s rural areas showing increasing signs of urbanization - i.e. increase in population density, high levels of non-farm employment, presence of growing economic activities and other socioeconomic parameters.For the purposes of SPMRM, Rurban areas refer to a cluster of 15-20 villages having about 30 to 40 lakh population. 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.