Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana: Transforming Rural India

India’s development story is often measured by its urban growth, yet the heart of the nation lies in its villages. Recognizing this, the Indian government launched the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on 11th October 2014, with a vision to drive holistic development in rural areas. The scheme emphasizes the role of Members of Parliament (MPs) in adopting and developing one village from their constituency into a model village by 2024.

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Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) was launched on 11th October 2014 with the aim to translate the comprehensive vision of Mahatma Gandhi about an ideal Indian village into reality, keeping in view the present context. Under SAGY, each Member of Parliament adopts a Gram Panchayat and guides its holistic progress giving importance to social development at par with infrastructure. The ‘Adarsh Grams’ are to become schools of local development and governance, inspiring other Gram Panchayats. By involving villagers and leveraging scientific tools, a village development plan is prepared under the leadership of a Member of Parliament. The distinct feature of this Yojana is that it is: Demand Driven, Inspired by Society, and Based on People’s Participation.

Objectives of Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

The primary objective of SAGY is to trigger processes that lead to holistic development of identified villages, which can then serve as models for other villages to emulate. The scheme aims to achieve this through:

Social Development: Promoting harmony, peace, and collective welfare within the village.
Cultural Development: Preserving and enhancing the local cultural heritage.
Economic Development: Ensuring sustainable livelihoods through skill development and economic activities.
Environmental Development: Fostering eco-friendly practices and ensuring a clean and green environment.

Values

Far beyond mere infrastructure development, SAGY aims at instilling specific values in the villages and their people so that they get transformed into models for others. These values include:

1. Adopting people’s participation as an end in itself – ensuring the involvement of all sections of society in all aspects related to the life of the village, especially in decision-making related to governance

2. Adhering to Antyodaya – enabling the “poorest and the weakest person” in the village to achieve well-being

3. Affirming gender equality and ensuring respect for women

4. Guaranteeing social justice

5. Installing dignity of labor and the spirit of community service and voluntarism

6. Promoting a culture of cleanliness

7. Living in consonance with nature – ensuring a balance between development and ecology

8. Preserving and promoting local cultural heritage

9. Inculcatng mutual cooperation, self-help, and self-reliance

10. Fostering peace and harmony in the village community

11. Bringing about transparency, accountability, and probity in public life

12. Nurturing local self-governance

13. Adhering to the values enshrined in the Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties of the Indian Constitution

Benefits

Activities

The elements of an Adarsh Gram would be contexted specific. However, it is still possible to broadly identify the essential activities. They would include:

1. Personal Development

2. Social Development

3. Human Development

4. Economic Development

5. Environmental Development

6. Social Security

7. Basic amenities & services

8. Good Governance

Personal development:

1. Inculcating hygienic behavior and practices

2. Fostering healthy habits including daily exercise and games

3. Reducing risk behavior- alcoholism, smoking, substance abuse, etc.

Human Development:

1. Universal access to basic health facilities consisting of health-card, medical examination

2. Total immunization

3. Balancing the sex-ratio

4. 100% institutional delivery

5. Improving nutrition status for all, with special focus on children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers

6. Strong focus on the special needs of Persons with Disability (PWD), especially children and women

7. Universal access to education facilities up to Class X and retention

8. Conversion of schools into ‘smart schools’. Smart schools will have IT-enabled classrooms, e-libraries, and web-based teaching and will make all students e-literate required for providing quality education

9. Adult literacy

10. E-literacy

11. Village libraries including e-libraries

Social development:

1. Activities for the promotion of voluntarism like Bharat Nirman Volunteers

2. Building the capacity of the people to fully participate and contribute to local development

3. Activities for honoring village elders, and local role models especially women, freedom fighters, and martyrs

4. Activities for violence and crime-free villages such as:

4.1 Setting up Citizen Committees

4.2 Sensitization, especially in youth

5. Village sports and folk arts festivals

6. Having a village song to instill a sense of pride among the people

7. Celebrating ‘Village Day’

8. Proactive steps for inclusion and integration of socially excluded groups, especially Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Economic Development:

Promoting diversified agricultural and allied livelihoods, including livestock and horticulture, through-

1. Organic farming

2. Soil health cards

3. Crop intensification such as SRI

4. Setting up of seed banks

5. Collection and value addition to Non-Timber Forest Produce, Livestock development including Gobar Bank, cattle hostel

6. Livestock development including Gobar Bank, cattle hostel

7. Micro-irrigation

8. Agro-service centers

Rural industrialization:

1. Post-harvest technology applications

2. Micro-enterprises

3. Dairy development and processing

4. Food processing

5. Traditional Industries

6. Skill Development of all eligible youth for self-employment and placement

7. Village Tourism including eco-tourism

All the above activities should focus particularly on lifting households out of poverty, for which organizing and federating women SHGs, providing employment to all workers, and bringing about financial inclusion are very important.

Environmental Development:

1. Activities for a clean and green village consist of:

1.1 Providing toilets in each household and in all public institutions and ensuring their proper use

1.2 Appropriate solid and liquid waste management

2. Roadside plantations

3. Tree plantation in accordance with local preferences in homesteads, schools, and public institutions – including green walkways

4. Social forestry

5. Watershed management especially renovation and revival of traditional water bodies

6. Rainwater harvesting- rooftop as well as others

7. Reducing local pollution of air, water, and land

Basic amenities and services:

1. Pucca houses for all houseless poor/poor living in kutcha houses

2. Drinking water, preferably treated piped water with household taps

3. Internal all-weather roads with covered drains

4. All weather road connectivity to the main road network

5. Electricity connection to all households and street lights including from alternative sources of energy, especially solar

6. Pucca infrastructure for public institutions- Anganwadis, schools, health institutions, 7. Gram Panchayat Office, and libraries

8. Civic infrastructure including community halls, buildings for SHG federations, playgrounds, and burial grounds/ crematoria

9. Village markets

10. Infrastructure for PDS outlets

11. Micro mini banks /post offices/ATMs

12. Broadband connectivity and Common Service Centres

13. Telecom connectivity

14. CCTVs in public places

Social Security:

1. Pensions for all eligible families- old age, disability, and widow

2. Insurance schemes like Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana

3. Health insurance- RSBY

4. PDS- universal access to all eligible households

Good Governance:

1. Strengthening of local democracy through strong and accountable Gram Panchayats and active Gram Sabhas

2. e-Governance results in better service delivery

3. Provision of UIDAI cards to all

4. Ensuring regular and punctual attendance of government and panchayat staff

5. Time-bound service delivery in line with Department’s Citizens Charter

6. Holding of Mahila Gram Sabhas before every Gram Sabha

7. Holding a Gram Sabha at least 4 times a year

8. Holding of Bal Sabhas every quarter

9. Proactive disclosure of all information pertaining to the implementation of the program in the public domain and through wall-writing, and notice boards in the local language. This should necessarily include the list of beneficiaries, item-wise budgets, and expenditures.

9. Gram Panchayat acting as an information facilitation center

10. Timely redressal of grievances filed by people, such that:

10.1 Grievances of all nature to be submitted to the Gram Panchayat / Charge Officer and dated receipt to be given

10.2 Grievances are to be redressed within three weeks along with a written reply

Institutionalization of regular open platforms for the airing of grievances and their redressal, coordinated by the Gram Panchayat

Use of Technology and Innovation In SAGY

Adopting and adapting technology and introducing innovation is critical to this program. These would work broadly in the following areas:

1. Space application and remote sensing

2. Mobile-based technology

3. Agriculture-related technology and innovations

4. Livelihood-related technologies and innovations

5. Appropriate building construction technologies

6. Road construction technologies

7. Water supply and sanitation-related technologies

Eligibility

1. The Gram Panchayat should be the basic unit.

2. The village should have a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal, and difficult areas. (In districts where this unit size is not available, Gram Panchayats approximating the desirable population size may be chosen.)

3. The MP would identify a suitable Gram Panchayat from the rural area of any district in the country, other than his/her own village or that of his/her spouse.

4. The MP will identify one Gram Panchayat to be taken up immediately, and two others to be taken up a little later.

5. Lok Sabha MP has to choose a Gram Panchayat from within his/her constituency.

6. Rajya Sabha MP has to choose a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of a district of his/her choice in the State from which he/she is elected.

7. In the case of urban constituencies, (where there are no Gram Panchayats), the MP will identify a Gram Panchayat from a nearby rural constituency.

8. The Gram Panchayats once selected by the MP (whose tenures have ended on account of resignation or otherwise) would be continued as such under SAGY irrespective of whether activities have already been initiated in the GP under SAGY or not. The newly elected MPs will have the option to select the GP of their choice and two more subsequently by 2019.

Key Features of the Yojana

Adoption of Villages: Under SAGY, MPs adopt villages, and they are tasked with ensuring their comprehensive development. MPs are encouraged to choose villages with significant social and economic challenges.
Holistic Approach: SAGY focuses on improving all aspects of life in the village, including education, health, sanitation, infrastructure, and employment. The idea is not just to focus on one area but to ensure that the village evolves into a self-sustaining community.
Convergence of Schemes: One of the innovative aspects of SAGY is the convergence of existing government schemes at the village level. This means that various schemes from different ministries are coordinated to ensure comprehensive development.
Participatory Planning: The scheme emphasizes community participation in the planning and implementation process. The villagers themselves are involved in identifying their needs and developing a plan for their village’s development.
Replicability: The villages developed under SAGY are expected to serve as models for other villages. The best practices from these model villages can be replicated in other parts of the country.

Progress and Challenges

Since its inception, SAGY has seen varying degrees of success. Some villages have indeed transformed into model villages with improved infrastructure, better access to education, and enhanced livelihoods. However, the success of the scheme largely depends on the active involvement of MPs and the local administration. Some of the challenges faced include:

Inconsistent Participation: Not all MPs have been equally enthusiastic about adopting and developing villages, leading to disparities in progress.
Resource Allocation: While the scheme encourages the convergence of resources, the actual allocation and mobilization of funds have been a challenge in some cases.
Sustainability: Ensuring that the development is sustainable and that the village remains self-sufficient after the initial push is crucial.

Conclusion

The Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana represents a significant step towards bridging the urban-rural divide and ensuring that the benefits of development reach every corner of the country. While there are challenges in implementation, the potential of the scheme to transform rural India cannot be understated. With active participation from MPs, local communities, and government bodies, SAGY can lead to a more inclusive and sustainable development model for India’s villages.

FAQs

1. What is the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)?

Answer: SAGY is a rural development program launched by the Indian government on October 11, 2014. It aims to transform selected villages into model villages through the active involvement of Members of Parliament (MPs).

2. Who is responsible for implementing SAGY?

Answer: The scheme is primarily implemented by the MPs, who adopt and develop a village in their constituency. The local administration and government bodies assist in the execution of development plans.

3. What are the main objectives of SAGY?

Answer: The main objectives are to trigger holistic development in villages by focusing on social, cultural, economic, and environmental improvements, making these villages models for others to follow.

4. How does an MP select a village under SAGY?

Answer: MPs select a village based on certain criteria, such as the village’s socio-economic challenges, potential for development, and proximity to their constituency.

5. What is a model village under SAGY?

Answer: A model village under SAGY is one that has been developed comprehensively, with improvements in infrastructure, education, health, sanitation, and economic activities, serving as a benchmark for other villages.

6. How many villages can an MP adopt under SAGY?

Answer: Each MP can adopt one village in the first phase (by 2016) and two more by 2019. In total, MPs can adopt up to three villages during their term.

7. What are the key areas of focus under SAGY?

Answer: Key areas include infrastructure development, health and sanitation, education, skill development, agricultural practices, and environmental sustainability.

8. How is SAGY different from other rural development schemes?

Answer: Unlike other schemes, SAGY is MP-led, encouraging community participation and the convergence of various government schemes to achieve holistic development in the selected villages.

9. What role do villagers play in SAGY?

Answer: Villagers are actively involved in identifying their needs, planning, and implementing development activities, ensuring that the development process is participatory and inclusive.

10. How are the funds for SAGY allocated?

Answer: SAGY does not have a separate budget allocation. Instead, it relies on the convergence of existing government schemes and resources, with MPs facilitating the coordination of these schemes at the village level.

11. What challenges have been faced in implementing SAGY?

Answer: Challenges include inconsistent participation from MPs, difficulties in resource mobilization, bureaucratic delays, and ensuring sustainability of development efforts.

12. What is the role of the local administration in SAGY?

Answer: The local administration plays a crucial role in assisting the MP in planning and executing development projects, coordinating with various government departments, and ensuring the effective implementation of schemes.

13. Can an MP adopt a village from another constituency?

Answer: No, MPs are required to adopt a village from their own constituency to ensure they can closely monitor and participate in the village’s development.

14. What is the timeline for developing a village under SAGY?

Answer: The timeline for transforming a village into a model village is typically three years. MPs are expected to select additional villages after the first phase.

15. How is the success of SAGY measured?

Answer: Success is measured through various indicators, such as improvements in infrastructure, health, education, economic activities, and overall quality of life in the village.

16. Are there any penalties for MPs who do not participate in SAGY?

Answer: There are no formal penalties, but non-participation can affect the MP’s reputation and the development prospects of their constituency.

17. Can private organizations contribute to SAGY?

Answer: Yes, private organizations, NGOs, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are encouraged to contribute to the development of villages under SAGY.

18. How does SAGY ensure sustainability in the model villages?

Answer: Sustainability is ensured by focusing on self-sufficiency, promoting eco-friendly practices, and involving villagers in the maintenance and continuation of development efforts.

19. What are some successful examples of SAGY implementation?

Answer: Some successful examples include villages that have seen significant improvements in sanitation, education, renewable energy use, and economic activities due to SAGY.

20. Where can I find more information about SAGY?

Answer: More information can be found on the official website of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, and through local MP offices.