New Delhi: As the Union government’s Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) — a 10-year project launched in 2014 to boost development in villages — nears its deadline, only about 52 percent of the around 6,000 gram panchayats (GP) targeted by the scheme have been adopted by members of Parliament (MPs), ThePrint has learnt.
Under the scheme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014, each MP was expected — though not mandated — to adopt eight GPs for development of infrastructure. According to SAGY guidelines, of the eight GPs under each MP, three GPs were to be developed by March 2019 and the remaining five by 2024.
“The development of Gram Panchayats is envisaged through implementation of existing government schemes and programmes in convergence mode and mobilisation of community and private resources,” an official statement released in March this year by the Ministry of Rural Development explained.
In a large number of states and UTs, the percentage of work completed in adopted villages is below 75 percent, according to information available on the ministry’s dashboard.
At a review meeting last week, the ministry asked state governments and Union territories to expedite work and redraw development plans if needed, a ministry official told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
“There are over 10 states and UTs, including Assam, Goa, Punjab, Bihar etc., where the progress of planned projects is below 50 percent. There are a few states such as Bihar, Delhi, Goa, West Bengal etc. where there are no regular meetings held to review the progress of work done under the scheme. We have now asked states and UTs to expedite the development work in adopted GPs so that they are developed as ‘Adarsh’ grams by 2024,” said a senior rural development ministry official, who was part of the review meeting.
Even in BJP-ruled states including Goa and Assam, the progress of work planned under the scheme in GPs is below 30 percent. In Haryana, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, etc., the progress is under 75 percent, according to officials.
SAGY was launched with the objective of comprehensive development of rural villages by improving basic amenities and standard of living via convergence of central government schemes and through people’s participation. It was also meant to serve as a model for neighbouring GPs to learn from and adapt.
Officials said that MPs play a crucial role in SAGY’s implementation, but the response from them has been muted so far.
ThePrint reached the Ministry of Rural Development via email for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
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Only 52% gram panchayats adopted so far
According to the SAGY guidelines, Lok Sabha MPs have to adopt GPs from their respective constituencies. However, if their constituency is urban, they can adopt GPs from nearby rural constituencies. Rajya Sabha MPs can select GPs from their states and nominated MPs can select GPs from anywhere in the country.
“There should have been over 6,000 GPs selected till now as per the guidelines, since there are 543 Lok Sabha MPs and 239 Rajya Sabhas MPs (including nominated ones). But, so far, only 3,364 GPs have been adopted,” another senior ministry official told ThePrint.
In a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha on 9 August, 2023, Union Minister of State (MoS) for rural development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti gave a year-wise break-up of GPs adopted since 2014. This data shows that between 2014 and 2016, 703 GPs were adopted by MPs. However, the numbers have seen a downward trend since 2019 (the second term of the BJP-led NDA government).
Since 2019, 1,782 GPs were adopted by MPs till August 3, 2023 — 467 GPs in 2019-20, 350 in 2020-21, 320 in 2021-22 and 282 in 2022-23.
In 2023-24, 204 GPs were adopted till 3 August, 2023.
In the past five years, the highest number of GPs were adopted in Uttar Pradesh (263), Tamil Nadu (203), Gujarat (154), Andhra Pradesh (119), Maharashtra (114), Rajasthan (104) and Bihar (102).
The first ministry official quoted earlier said, “We have been writing to MPs to adopt GPs and asking states and UTs to complete the planned work at the earliest.”
The guidelines require MPs to not only identify GPs but to also engage with the community to get them to plan development works required in their areas, alongside preparation of Village Development Plans (VDPs), mobilising additional resources and monitoring the progress regularly, among other tasks.
The state governments and UTs have to form a committee under the chief secretary with rural development secretary as member-convenor and the committee is to review the progress of SAGY quarterly.
“It was found during the review that some states/UTs have not even constituted the committee. In some states, while a committee has been formed, there has been no meeting in the past five years. As there is no dedicated fund in this scheme, states have to closely monitor it as development work is to be carried out through convergence of state and central schemes,” another senior ministry official said.
No dedicated fund for SAGY
In states and UTs where village development plans (VDPs) have been prepared for GPs, the pace of implementation is slow, according to the ministry’s dashboard for the scheme.
In BJP-ruled states including Goa and Assam, the progress in completing the activities planned under VDPs is around 25 percent. In Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra, where BJP is in power or is part of the ruling alliance, the progress is below 70 percent.
Officials in Maharashtra and Assam governments have said that the scheme has received poor response as there is no dedicated fund for it and coordinating with various state agencies to get work done is difficult.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior Assam government official said, “Initially, there was not much clarity on the scheme. But gradually, we have got VDPs prepared for some GPs. We have written to MPs to adopt GPs. The slow pace of work is due to funds, as there are no dedicated funds for the scheme. It is slightly difficult to get the work done.”
In most states, while the scheme is monitored by the rural development department, the work on ground is done by district collectors. An official with the Maharashtra government said, “All development projects have to be carried out from the funds under various state and central schemes. Sometimes we have to get two-three departments together to get the work done as they have to release funds. It is difficult to coordinate and ensure all of them work in tandem. This often results in delay in getting the work done.”
In Bihar, the progress is just around 35 percent in selected GPs.
“Frequent transfer of officials is one of the issues in proper monitoring of schemes. We are trying to address this problem,” a senior official with the state’s rural development department said.
Officials in some states such as Bihar and Assam told ThePrint that the Union rural development ministry has asked them to revise the VDPs and remove projects or activities that have been planned but no work has started as yet. “We are in the process of calling the meetings of adopted GPs to alter the VDPs,” said the Assam government official.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)