INTEGRATED development of rural areas is one of the abiding tasks before the Government of India. The National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the Central government reiterates the cardinal importance of villages to the overall development of the country and commits to work towards development of rural areas, which for various reasons could not keep pace with urban areas in the past.
In conformity with this commitment of the Government, the Ministry of Rural Development accords foremost priority to development in rural areas and eradication of poverty and hunger from the face of rural India. A number of new initiatives have been taken in the recent years for creation of social and economic infrastructure in rural areas to bridge the rural urban divide as well as to provide food security and to fulfill other basic needs of the rural populace.
The renewed emphasis on rural development is also visible in the commensurate progressive increase in the allocation of resources for implementation of poverty alleviation programmes.
For the Tenth Five Year Plan, the allocation of funds for rural development programmes has been enhanced to Rs. 76,774 crore as against Rs. 42,874 crore in Ninth Plan. An allocation of Rs. 24480 crore was made for the Ministry during 2005-06. The budget estimate for the year 2006-07 is Rs. 31443.62 crore.
Addressing the challenge of unemployment in the rural areas of the country is central to the development of rural sector for ameliorating the economic condition of the people.
·Wage employment is provided in rural areas under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
·Self-employment is provided under Swranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY).
Besides, generating employment these wage employment schemes also ensure creation of durable assets in rural areas. Initiatives are also taken by the Ministry to build and upgrade the basic rural infrastructure through various schemes. Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) construction and upgradation of rural roads are taken up to ensure rural connectivity. It is expected under the scheme that an expanded and renovated rural road network will lead to an increase in rural employment opportunities, better access to regulated and fair market, better access to health, education and other public services so as to accelerate the pace of economic growth in rural areas.
Similarly basic amenities for housing, drinking water and toilets, etc., are provided under Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) and Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) to enhance the welfare and well being of the vulnerable sections of rural population. Area Development is encouraged through Watershed Programmes to check the diminishing productivity of wasteland and loss of natural resources.
The Ministry of Rural Development is also committed to fulfill the goals of Bharat Nirman- a time bound action plan for development of rural infrastructure espoused by the President of India Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam who described it as the platform on which my government will construct its New Deal for Rural India. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh extolled that Bharat Nirman will be time-bound business plan for action in rural infrastructure for the next four years.
Under Bharat Nirman, action is proposed in the areas of irrigation, roads, rural housing, rural water supply, rural electrification and rural telecommunication connectivity. We have set specific targets to be achieved under each of these goals so that there is accountability in the progress of this initiative. Bharat Nirman is thus viewed as an effort to unlock rural Indias growth potential and be a key for ushering a new era. It is expected that Bharat Nirman will lead to considerable rural assets creation along with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
Alongside, the new initiatives some of the existing schemes have also been streamlined and strengthened to make their implementation more speedy and effective.
The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) was launched on 25 December 2000 as a 100 per cent Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The prime objective of the PMGSY is to provide connectivity to all the eligible unconnected habitations of more than 500 persons in the rural areas (250 persons in the hilly and desert areas) by good quality all-weather roads.
Under Bharat Nirman, goal has been set to provide connectivity to all the habitations with population of more than 1000 in the plain areas and habitations with a population of 500 or more in hilly and tribal areas in a time bound manner by 2009. The systematic up gradation of the existing rural road networks is also an integral component of the scheme. Accordingly, an Action Plan has been prepared for connecting 66,802 habitations with 1,46,185 km of all-weather roads. This action plan also envisages up gradation/renewal of 1,94,130 km of the existing rural road network. It is estimated that an investment of about Rs.48, 000 crore would be required for achieving the targets under Bharat Nirman.The implementation strategy focuses on quality, cost management and on time delivery.
Up to 31 March 2006, project proposals amounting to Rs. 26,490.82 crore have been approved against which a sum of Rs.16120.10 crore has been released for 47643 roads covering a length of 153938.46 km. Against these, 31251 road works having road length of 89758.66 km have been completed with a cumulative expenditure of Rs. 13,574.23 crore.
·Rural Housing
To meet the shortage of housing in rural areas, a programme called Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was launched in May 1985 as a sub-scheme of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY). It is being implemented as an independent scheme since 1 January 1996 and is the flagship programme for rural housing. The Indira Awaas Yojana aims at providing assistance to rural people below the poverty-line belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, freed bonded labourers and non- scheduled castes/scheduled tribes categories for the construction of dwelling units and upgradation of existing unserviceable kutcha houses by providing grants-in-aid.
From 1995-96, IAY benefits have been extended to widows or next-of-kin of defense personnel killed in action. Benefits have also been extended to ex-servicemen and retired members of the paramilitary forces as long as they fulfill the normal eligibility conditions of IAY. Three per cent of funds are reserved for the disabled persons living below the poverty line in rural areas.
Once the annual allocations are made and physical targets decided, the district panchayat/District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) decide the Panchayatwise number of houses to be constructed/upgraded under IAY, during a particular financial year. Targets are intimated to the concerned Gram Panchayats. Thereafter, the Gram Sabha selects the beneficiaries from the list of eligible BPL households, restricting this number to the target allotted as per the programme guidelines. Selection of beneficiary by the Gram Sabha is final. No approval by any higher body is required. Zilla Parishads/ DRDAs and Block Development Officers are informed accordingly to provide assistance to selected beneficiaries. To ensure transparency and efficiency in the allotment of houses under the scheme the permanent waitlist for IAY at Gram Panchayat level based on the BPL census of 2002 has also been initiated.
Under the Scheme, allotment of the house is done in the name of the female members of the households or in the joint names of husband and wife. Minimums of 60 per cent of funds are to be utilized for construction of houses for SCs/STs. Sanitary latrine and smokeless chulhas are also provided to the beneficiaries. Selection of construction technology, materials and design is left entirely to the choice of beneficiaries. The ceiling on assistance for construction of new houses has been increased from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 per unit for the plain areas and from Rs. 22,000 to Rs. 27,500 per unit for the hilly/difficult areas with effect from 1 April 2004. The upper limit in respect of conversion of kutcha houses into semi-pucca houses (Upgradation) has also been increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 12,500 per unit from the same date and up to 20 per cent of IAY funds can be utilised for this purpose.
Around 143.13 lakh houses have been constructed/upgraded from 198586 to 2005-2006 (As per reports received up to April 2006) under the Scheme with an expenditure of about Rs. 26305.08 crore.
The Central Allocation for rural housing during 2004-2005 was Rs. 2500 crore, out of which an amount of Rs. 2460.67 crore was allocated for IAY with a target of building about 15.62 lakh houses. The entire amount was released and about 15.21 lakh houses have been reported constructed/upgraded.
An allocation of Rs. 2750 crore was made available during 2005-2006 for Rural Housing. For Indira Awaas Yojana, an amount of Rs. 2732.40 crore was allocated for construction/upgradation of 14.41 lakh houses during 2005-2006. Against this, an amount of Rs. 2738.22 crore has been released and 15.52 lakh houses have been constructed in the year as per reports received from the States.
As construction of houses for the rural poor is a significant activity of asset creation in rural areas and contributes substantially towards the concept of Bharat Nirman, this has been included as one of the six components of the Bharat Nirman Programme. Under this programme sixty lakh houses are to be constructed for rural BPL families during a span of four years beginning from 2005-06.
·Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
The Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana(SGSY) was launched as an integrated programme for self-employment of the rural poor with effect from 1 April 1999.
The objective of the scheme is to bring the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organizing them into Self Help Groups (SHGs) through the process of social mobilization, their training and capacity building and provision of income generating assets through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.
The scheme emphasizes establishment of activity clusters through selection of key activities based on aptitude and skill of the people, availability of resources and market potentiality.
The scheme adopts a process approach and attempts to build the capacities of the rural poor. It provides for involvement of NGOs/ Individuals/Banks and /Self Help Promoting Institutions in nurturing and development of SHGs, including skill development. The scheme provides for the cost of social intermediation and skill development training based on the local requirement. Flexibility has been given to the /States in the utilization of funds for training, sanction of Revolving Fund, subsidy for economic activity based on the stage of development of groups.
The focus of the programme is on establishing a large number of micro-enterprises in rural areas based on the ability of the poor and potential of each area, both land-based and otherwise, for sustainable income generation. Due emphasis is being laid on different components such as capacity building of the poor, skill development training, credit, training, technology transfer, marketing and infrastructure.
The SGSY has a special focus on the vulnerable groups among the rural poor. SC/STs account for at least 50 per cent, women 40 per cent and the persons with physical disability constitute 3 per cent of the Swarozgaries respectively. The SGSY seeks to promote multiple credits rather than a one-time credit injection.
The SHGs may consist of 10-20 members and in case of minor irrigation, and in case of disabled persons and difficult areas, i.e., hilly, desert and sparsely populated areas, this number may be a minimum of five. Self Help Groups should also be drawn from the BPL list approved by the Gram Sabha. The SHGs broadly go through three stages of evolution such as group formation, capital formation through the revolving fund and skill development and taking up of economic activity for income generation.
Selection could be made up to 10 key activities per block based on local resources, occupational skills of the people and availability of market so that the Swarozgaris can draw suitable incomes from their investment. Under SGSY each block should concentrate on 4-5 selected key activities and attend to all aspects of these activities in a cluster approach, so that swarozgaris can draw sustainable income from their investments. The scheme lays special emphasis on development of swarozgaris through well designed training courses tailored to the activities selected and the requirement of each swarozgari. SGSY is being implemented through the District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs), with active involvement of panchayati raj institutions, banks and NGOs. It is financed on 75:25 cost-sharing basis between the Centre and the states.
Since the inception of the programme 22.52 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) have been formed covering 66.97 lakh swarozgaris. These include 35.54 lakhs members of the SHGs and 31.43 lakh individual Swarozgaris who have been assisted with a total investment of Rs. 14403.73 crore. Out of total Swarozgaris assisted, SCs/STs were 45.54 per cent and women 47.85 per cent. During 2006-2007 the Central allocation for the scheme is Rs.1200 crore.
·National Social Assistance Programme and Annapurna
Ministry of Rural Development was administering the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) consisting of National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) and National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) till the programme was transferred to the State Plan along with the Annapurna Scheme from 2002-03.
After transfer of the schemes, the Ministry of Rural Development and Planning Commission make state- wise allocation of Additional Central Assistance (ACA). The scale of central assistance under NOAPS is Rs. 75 per month for providing pension to a destitute aged 65 years and above, under NFBS Rs. 10,000 is being provided in the event of death of the primary bread winner of a family and under Annapurna Scheme 10 kg of food grains per month per person is provided free of cost to the beneficiaries. Number of persons to be benefited from the Scheme would be in the first instance, 20 per cent of the persons eligible to received pension under NOAPS. State Governments/ UTs can utilize the ACA provided to them by taking up one or two or all the three schemes or in any other combination in accordance with their own priorities and needs. The Ministry of Finance makes releases of the ACA to the States/ UTs automatically in equal installments on a monthly basis until December of the financial year.
However, releases of ACA for the last quarter of the financial year depend upon the reporting of satisfactory progress of the scheme and utilisation of funds by States/ UTs. Reports in this regard is submitted by States /UTs to Ministry of Rural Development, who after examination of these reports, make suitable recommendation to Ministry of Finance regarding the release of ACAs for the three months of the preceding quarter.
The Finance Minister in the budget speech for the year 2006-07 has announced an increase in pension under NOAPS from Rs 75 per month per beneficiary to Rs. 200 per month per beneficiary.
·District Rural Development Agency
A Centrally sponsored scheme District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Administration was launched on 1 April 1999 with the objective of strengthening the DRDAs and making them more professional in their functioning. The funding pattern of the DRDA Administration is in the ratio of 75:25 between the Centre and the States. During 2005-2006 the revised estimate for DRDA administration was Rs. 235 crore and the whole amount was also released. In the current year, i.e., 2006-07 a budget provision of Rs. 220 crore has been made for the scheme.
·CARPART
The Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Rural Development. It was set up in September 1986, as a supporting and funding agency the voluntary organizations
. Its primary objective is to promote voluntary action through community participation and to propagate appropriate rural technologies for the benefit of rural masses. It has a network of regional centres at Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Dharwad. The regional committees are empowered to sanction projects up to an outlay of Rs. 25 lakh in their respective regions. The Budget allocation for CAPART during the year 2005-06 was Rs. 70 crore. Since inception and up to March 2006, CAPART has sanctioned 23,997 projects involving an amount of Rs. 841.83 crore and released an amount of Rs.713.78 crore.
·Watershed Development Programmes
The Department of Land Resources in the Ministry of Rural Development is administering three area based watershed programmes for development of wastelands/degraded lands namely Drought Prone Areas Programmes (DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP) and Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP) to check the diminishing productivity of wasteland and loss of natural resources.
The DPAP was launched in 1973-74 to tackle the special problems faced by those areas that are constantly afflicted by drought conditions. Presently, 972 blocks of 182 districts in 16 States are covered under the Programme. DDP was launched in 1977-78 to mitigate the adverse effects of desertification. Presently, 235 blocks of 40 districts in 7 States are covered under the Programme. IWDP has been under implementation since 1989-90. The projects under the IWDP are generally sanctioned in areas that are not covered under DDP or DPAP.
Since 1 April1995, these three programmes are being implemented on the basis of Common Guidelines for Watershed Development
The Department of Land Resources has brought out a new initiative called Hariyali with an objective of empowering PRIs both financially and administratively in implementation of Watershed Development Programmes. Under this initiative, all ongoing area development programmes namely, Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP), Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) and Desert Development Programme (DDP) are to be implemented through the PRIs. New projects under the aforesaid area development programmes are being implemented in accordance with the Guidelines for Hariyali from 1 April 2003. Projects sanctioned prior to this date shall continue to be implemented as per the Watershed Development Guidelines of 2001.
In the new arrangement, Gram Panchayats shall implement projects under overall supervision and guidance of Project Implementation Agencies (PIAs). An intermediate panchayat may be the PIA for all the projects sanctioned to a particular Block/Taluka. In case, these Panchayats are not adequately empowered, then the Zilla Panchayat can either act as PIA itself or may appoint a suitable Line Department like Agriculture, Forestry /Social Forestry, Soil Conservation, etc., or an Agency of the State Government/ University/Institute as PIA. Failing these options, the ZP/DRDA may consider appointing a reputed Non-Government Organization (NGO) in the district with adequate experience and expertise in the implementation of watershed projects or related area development works as the PIA after thoroughly examining their credentials.
The Project Implementing Agency (PIA) will provide necessary technical guidance to the Gram Panchayat for preparation of development plans for the watershed through Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercise, undertake community organisation and training for the village communities, supervise watershed development activities, inspect and authenticate project accounts, encourage adoption of low cost technologies built upon indigenous technical knowledge, monitor and review the overall project implementation and set up institutional arrangements for post-project operation and maintenance and further development of the assets created during the project period.
Funds for the watershed development projects being implemented as per Hariyali Guidelines are being released in five installments @15 per cent, 30 per cent, 30 per cent, 15 per cent and 10 per cent.
·Land Reforms
Two Centrally Sponsored Schemes viz;
Computerization of Land Records (CLR) and
Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records (SRA & ULR) are administrated by Land Reforms Division in the Department of Land Resources
1.Computerization Of Land Records
The Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Computerization of Land Records (CLR) was started in 1988-89 with 100 per cent financial assistance on a pilot project basis in eight Districts viz.; Rangareddy (A.P.), Sonitpur (Assam), Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Morena (M.P.) Wardha (Maharastra), Mayurbhanj (Orissa) and Dungarpur (Rajasthan) to remove the problems inherent in the manual systems of maintenance and updating of land records and to meet the requirements of various groups of users.
It was decided that efforts should be made to computerize CORE DATA contained in land records, so as to assist development planning and to make records accessible to peoples/ planners and administrators.
During the 8 Five-Year Plan, the scheme was approved as a separate Centrally sponsored scheme on computerisation of land records. The total expenditure under the Scheme during 8-plan period was Rs. 59.42 crore. During 9 Five Year Plan, Ministry of Rural Development released a sum of Rs. 169.13 crore by covering 259 more districts under the Scheme. At present, the Scheme is being implemented in 582 Districts of the country leaving those Districts where there are no proper land records.
A decision has been taken during 1997-98 for operation of the Scheme at the tehsil/taluk level for facilitating delivery of computerized land records to users and public at large. Under this programme, funds are released to the State Governments for data entry work, setting up of computer centers at tehsil level, sub-division level, District Land Records Data Center and Monitoring Cell at state headquarter and imparting training to revenue officials on application software and computer technology. So far 3519 tehsils/taluks, 365 District Land Records Data Center, 1019 Sub-division and 16 monitoring cells have been covered under the programme of CLR. Since inception of the Scheme of CLR (1988-89), Rs. 445.38 crore has been released to the States/UTs, out of which Rs.266.23 crore has been reported utilised by the State/UTs.
·Strengthening Of Revenue Administration And Updating Of Land Records(SRA & ULR)
With a view to assist States/UTs in the task of updating of land records, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records (SRA & ULR) was started in 1987. Initially, the Scheme was approved for the States of Bihar and Orissa in 1987-88 and extended to other States/UTs, during 1989-90. State governments through their revenue/land reforms departments are implementing the Scheme. The Centre and the state on 50:50 funds sharing basis finance it. However, union territories are provided full Central assistance.
Under this Scheme, financial assistance is given for purchase of modern survey equipment like Global Positioning System (GPS), EDM, Total Stations, Theodolites, Work Stations, Aerial Survey, Office equipment like photocopiers, laminating machines, binding machines and basic facilities to improve work efficiency of subordinate level staff of the revenue departments, construction of office-cum-residence of patwaries, construction/repair/renovation of Training Institutes and equipment for training, etc.
Since inception of the scheme, financial assistance of Rs. 324.89 crore has been provided to state governments and UTs up to 31 March 2006 towards central share under the scheme. The utilization of the funds reported by the States/UTs is Rs. 232.81 crore which is approximately 72 per cent of total funds released.
·Rural Drinking Water Supply Programme
Clean drinking water is a basic necessity of life. Supply of clean drinking water in the rural areas has always been one of the highest priorities of the government. A Technology Mission on drinking water named National Drinking Water Mission (NDWM) was launched in 1986, which subsequently was rechristened as Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) in 1991 with three key objectives:
Providing safe drinking water to all villages,
Assisting local communities to maintain sources of safe drinking water in good condition, and
Giving special attention for water supply to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
To achieve the objectives, Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) is being implemented to resolve the drinking water problem in rural habitations. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the states by providing financial and technical support. The Tenth Plan emphasizes participatory approach where PRIs should be the key institutions for convergence of drinking water supply programmes at the ground level.
The strategy to achieve the Tenth Plan objectives can be briefly summarized as:
Accelerating coverage of the remaining Not Covered and Partially Covered habitations including those slipped back from fully covered to partially and not covered categories, with safe drinking water systems.
To tackle problems of water quality in affected habitations and to institutionalize water quality monitoring and surveillance systems.
To promote sustainability, both of systems and sources, to ensure continued supply of safe drinking water in covered habitations
Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) aims at achieving this objective. Considerable success has been achieved in meeting the drinking water needs of the rural population through the said scheme. There are more than 4 million hand pumps and 2 lakh piped water schemes in the rural areas.
The ARWSP was launched during 1972-73. It is currently being implemented through the Rajeev Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission. The scheme aims at coverage of all rural habitations with population of 100 and above, specially the un-reached ones, ensure sustainability of the systems and sources, tackle the problem of water quality and institutionalize water quality monitoring and surveillance through a Catchment Area Approach.
As on 1 April 2005, 96.13 per cent of rural habitations have been Fully Covered (FC) with drinking water facilities and 3.55 per cent are Partially Covered (PC) and 0.32 per cent are Not Covered (NC) with drinking water facilities. There are slippages of FC into NC or PC due to various factors such as lowering of ground water table, systems outliving their lives, increase in population, etc.
Drinking water supply is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman, which has been envisaged to build strong rural infrastructure in four years (2005-06 to 2008-09). The task ahead is to cover all the remaining uncovered habitations and also to cover the slipped back as well as the water quality affected ones. Action Plans from State/UT Governments for achieving the goals of Bharat Nirman in a time bound manner have been obtained.
For ensuring sustainability of the systems, steps were initiated in 1999 to institutionalize community participation in the implementation of rural drinking water supply schemes by incorporating the following three basic principles:
Adoption of a demand-driven responsive and adaptable approach based on empowerment of villagers to ensure their full participation in the project through a decision making role in the choice of scheme design, control of finances and management arrangements.
Increasing role of government for empowering user groups/gram panchayats for sustainable management of drinking water assets and integrated water management and conservation.
Partial capital cost sharing either in cash or kind or both and 100 per cent responsibility of Operation and Maintenance by end-users.
Sector Reforms Projects, based on the above principles were sanctioned in 67 districts on pilot basis. With the experience gained from these pilot projects, reform process has been scaled up in the entire country through Swajaldhara launched on 25 December 2002. A notable feature of Swajaldhara is involvement of Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in planning, implementation, operation and maintenance. This would in turn ensure sustainability of the system. The community makes 10 per cent contribution and 90 per cent funds are provided by the Central government. In case of SC and ST habitations, community contribution can be in the form of cash, kind, labour or land or a combination of these.
Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) adopts an integrated approach so that conservation and augmentation of water sources is interrelated with rural water supply schemes to provide sustainable supply of safe drinking water to the rural population. The Mission seeks to provide supply of 40 litres of safe drinking water in rural areas.
An initiative has been taken by Government of India in February 2006 by launching the National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Programme which envisages institutionalization of community participation for monitoring and surveillance of drinking water sources at the grass-root level by Gram Panchayats and Village Water and Sanitation Committees, followed by checking the positively tested samples at the district and State level laboratories.
Another initiative taken by the Government is that from 2006-07 onwards focussed funding to tackle drinking water has been started. Up to 20 per cent of ARWSP funds are to be earmarked separately for tackling water quality problems. For 2006-07, 20 per cent of ARWSP funds have been allocated for funding under water quality.
·Central Rural Sanitation Programme
Rural Sanitation is a State subject. The efforts of the states are supplemented by the Central Government through technical and financial assistance under the Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP).
The Programme was launched in 1986 with the objectives of improving the quality of life of rural people and providing privacy and dignity to women. The concept of sanitation was expanded in 1993 to include personal hygiene, home sanitation, sage water and disposal of garbage, human excreta and wastewater. The components of the programme included construction of individual sanitary toilets for household below poverty-line (BPL), conversion of dry latrines to water-pour flush toilets, construction of village sanitary complexes for women, setting up of sanitary marts and production centres, intensive campaign for creating awareness and health education, etc.
Keeping in view the experiences of the Central and state governments, NGOs and other implementing agencies and the recommendations of the Second National Seminar on Rural Sanitation, the strategy for the Ninth Five Year Plan was revised and the programme was restructured form 1 April 1999. The restructured programme moves away form the principle of state-wise allocation of funds, primarily based on poverty criteria, to a demand driven approach in a phased manner.
Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) was introduced and the Allocation Based Programme was phased out by 31 March 2002. TSC is community-led and people-centered. There was a shift from a high subsidy to a low subsidy regime. The TSC approach emphasized awareness-building component and meets the demand through alternate delivery mechanism. School Sanitation has been introduced as a major component to encourage wider acceptance of sanitation among rural masses. The States/UTs are required to formulate project proposals under the TSC in order to claim Central government assistance.
Under the TSC, so far 559 projects in 30 States/UTs have been sanctioned with the total project outlay of about Rs.6240.27 crore. The Central, State and Beneficiary/Panchayat contributions are about Rs.3675.38 crore, Rs.1424.09 crore and Rs.1140.80 crore respectively. The components sanctioned in the 559 projects are
Construction of 499 lakh individual household latrines
656690 toilets for Schools
36098 Community Sanitary Complexes
199033 toilets for Balwadis/ Anganwadis and
4030 Rural Sanitary Marts/ Production Centres.
Besides, funds have been earmarked for start-up activities, Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and Administrative charges. The total numbers of household toilets constructed up to 2005-06 are 14,48,1807.
To add vigour to the implementation of TSC Government of India has separately launched an award scheme Nirmal Gram Puraskar(NGP) for fully sanitised and open defecation free GramPanchayats, block and districts. In the first year of its institution only 40 PRIs were awarded NGP on 24 February 2005. In the second year the number of awarded PRIs/Blocks and organisation have increased to 772. His Excellency, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, distributed the Awards on 23 March 2006.
·Monitoring and Evalution
The Ministry of Rural Development lays great emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of all rural development programmes in general and poverty alleviation and employment generation schemes in particular, being implemented in various States/UTs.It is well recognised that the success of the programmes largely depends on the effective delivery system and efficient implementation at the grass-roots level so that the programme benefits reach the rural poor in full measures. In order to ensure this, the Ministry has evolved a comprehensive multi-level and multi tool system of Monitoring and Evaluation for the implementation of its programmes. The Monitoring mechanism includes, inter-alia, the Performance Review Committee, Review meetings by the Minister of Rural Development and Ministers of State with the Chief Ministers/ Ministers of Rural development and Officers of the States, the Area Officer Scheme, periodic progress reports, audit and utilisation certificates, video conferencing and field visits. The Ministry conducts quick evaluation/concurrent evaluation of all major programmes. Impact assessment studies to asses the overall impact of programmes of village-level are also conducted in selected district. The Vigilance and Monitoring Committees at State and District Levels in all States/UTs to monitor the implementation of programmes and introduce greater transparency in the process. These Committees inter-alia include MPs/ MLAs representatives of Panchayti Raj Institutions and NGOs. The Members of Parliament both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been assigned a Central role in the reconstituted V&M Committees and they have been nominated Chairman/Co-Chairman of the district level V&M Committees.
The Ministry has also taken initiatives to strengthen the monitoring mechanism and quality of implementation of programmes by introducing District Level Monitoring (DLM) System in 130 district of 27 States through external agencies which include monthly reporting of physical and financial performance, qualitative reporting about policy and implementation environments in the district and physical verification of the assets crated under various programmes of the Ministry. Similarly DLM of Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) and Swajaldhara is implemented in 398 districts of the country w.e.f. 1 July 2005 This system aims at providing continuous, transparent and accountable monitoring inputs in reporting format with the objectives of reporting of the process and progress of the programmes covering different components of the programmes. It also aims at identification of gaps in the implementation at the village, block, district and state level. The monitoring system also elicits the stakeholders views; assesses the institutional issues and document case studies and success stories on best practices, innovations and lesson learned.
In order to strengthen the monitoring mechanism, the Ministry has a panel of about 300 National Level Monitors comprising retired servicemen and Retired Civil Servants to monitor and furnish periodic reports to the Ministry on the implementation of programmes in selected districts including verifying facts of the cases and complaints if any, which may be referred to them.
The Union Government in recent years has given emphasis to e-governance in all possible areas. Accordingly, the Ministry of Rural Development has also initiated action with the state Governments and UTs to ensure that information and progress reports completed by Districts Rural Development Agencies DRDAs are sent through the electronic medium. About 400 (DRDAs) have started sending their reports through online. Efforts are being made in this direction to obtain online progress reports from all the remaining DRDAs.