New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government will not make any changes to the PM’s ambitious Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) — the model village scheme — despite getting a thumbs-down from most MPs in its first five years.
Parliamentarians are now expected to adopt one village in each of the next five years, whereas in the last five, they needed to adopt three.
“SAGY guidelines had earlier stated that its goal was to develop three ‘adarsh grams’ — adopted by MPs — by March 2019. Now, five adarsh grams (one each year) will be selected and developed by 2024. There has been no proposal to make changes in the scheme as of now,” the rural ministry said in response to a question in Parliament Friday.
The scheme, part of Modi government’s efforts to project itself as a pro-rural regime, was announced by the PM himself in his first Independence Day speech in 2014. It was launched later that year.
The idea was that each MP would adopt three villages in three phases, which would be developed as ‘adarsh grams’ over her or his five-year tenure.
While it had witnessed healthy participation from MPs in the first phase, there was lack of interest among legislators in the later years. By the third phase, only about one-third of MPs had adopted villages.
According to sources in the rural development ministry, given PM Modi’s “deep interest and belief” in the scheme, it will continue to be pushed over the next five years.
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What is the scheme?
Under SAGY, each Lok Sabha MP has to adopt a village in her or his constituency, and take care of its all-round development using existing resources. The legislator should also implement rural schemes and use MPLADS funds for the purpose.
Rajya Sabha MPs can select a village in any district of the state from which they have been elected.
An MP can identify any village, except her or his native village, or one to which their spouses belong. Each MP was to develop one village by 2016 and two more by 2019.
When the scheme was envisaged in 2014, it was decided that between 2019 and 2024, each MP would adopt five such villages. However, given the lack of enthusiasm of MPs to adopt even three villages in the last leg, this is expected to be a tough ask.
The numbers
A look at the numbers indicates that most MPs eventually refused to adopt villages. It also shows how difficulties in implementing SAGY came to the fore after the first phase itself.
In the third phase, only 225 of the 543 Lok Sabha MPs and 58 of 245 Rajya Sabha MPs adopted a village. The BJP had won 282 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, and in the Rajya Sabha, it was the single largest bloc. This shows that even the BJP’s own MPs have shunned the scheme.
In the first phase, a healthy 500 Lok Sabha and 203 Rajya Sabha MPs had adopted villages. In the second phase, the numbers came down to 364 and 133 MPs and by the third phase, even the Modi government’s cabinet ministers had stopped adopting villages.
PM Modi, however, adopted a village in all phases.
The issues
Most MPs have pointed at the scheme’s “poor idea” and lesser funds allotted to it. MPs are expected to use their MPLADS funds and also ensure better implementation of existing rural schemes in ‘model’ villages.
“We will reach out to MPs to address their concerns,” said an official who did not wish to be identified.
The ministry, however, claimed “commendable progress” has been made by villages that were adopted under SAGY.
“Post-project evaluation reports of SAGY Phase-I suggest that good progress has been made by SAGY gram panchayats. They have recorded remarkable progress in a range of parameters such as immunisation of children, good PDS, enrolment of villagers in social security schemes, electrification and piped drinking water supply, among others,” it said in response to yet another parliamentary question.
The ministry has ruled out any central assistance to the scheme for now in terms of separate allocation, despite MPs demanding a budget allotment for it.
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