RURAL DEVELOPMENT-Rural development programs initiated by Govt. of India (1952 - 2014)

Dear Civil Service Aspirants.I am posting this Article ,which is a topic of PAPER-II SOCIOLOGY as well as  a topic of SOCIAL ISSUES.I have presented a sequence of Rural development programmes initiated by Govt. of India (1952 - 2014)at the end of this article !!! RURAL DEVELOPMENT
	Saroj Kumar Samal M.A(Gold-Medalist) M.Phil(Sociology) & LL.B Director, Saroj Samal’s I.A.S, New Delhi Email: sarojksamal@gmail.com

Rural development is a comprehensive term. Rural development generally refers to the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. It essentially focuses on action for the development of areas that are lagging behind in the overall development of the village economy. Some of the areas which are challenging and need fresh initiatives for development in rural India include

            Development can be brought to rural area by adopting an integrating approach. First of all, we have to change the conservative, dogmatic and inwardly attitudes of ruralites by diffusing rational thought into their mindset. Secondly by introducing advanced technology like power tiller, tracktor and information technology and concrete road connectivity, we can bring development to rural society. Rural development is given below in a poinwise manner.

·         Development of human resources including

-          Literacy, more specifically, female literacy, education and skill development.

-          Health, addressing both sanitation and public health

·         Land reforms

·         Development of the productive resources of each locality

·         Infrastructure development like electricity, irrigation, credit, marketing, transport facilities including construction of village roads and feeder roads to nearby highways, facilities for agriculture research and extension, and information dissemination

·         Special measures for alleviation of poverty and bringing about significant improvement in the living conditions of the weaker sections of the population emphasizing access to productive employment opportunities

All this means that people engaged in farm and non-farm activities in rural areas have to be provided with various means that help them increase the productivity. They also need to be given opportunities to diversify into various non-farm productive activities such as food processing. Enabling them better and more affordable access to healthcare, sanitation facilities at workplaces and homes and education for all would also need to be give top priority for rapid rural development.

            It was observed that in the last 20 years although the share of agriculture sector’s contribution to GDP was on a decline, the population dependent on this sector did not show any significant change. Further, after the initiation of reforms, the growth rate of agriculture sector decelerated to 2.3 per cent per annum during the 1990s, which was lower than the earlier years. Scholars identify decline in public investment since 1991 as the major reason for this. They also argue that inadequate infrastructure, lack of alternate employment opportunities in the industry or service sector, increasing casualisation of employment etc. further impede rural development. The impact of this phenomenon can be seen from the growing distress witnessed among farmers across different parts of India. Against this background, we will critically look at some of the crucial aspects of rural India like credit and marketing systems, agricultural diversification and the role of organic farming in promoting sustainable development.

CREDIT AND MARKETING IN RURAL AREAS

Credit: Growth of rural economy depends primarily on infusion of capital, from time to time, to realize higher productivity in agriculture and non-agriculture sectors. As the time gestation between crop sowing and realization of income after production is quite long, farmers borrow from various sources to meet their initial investement on seeds, fertilizers, implements and other family expenses of marriage, death, religious ceremonies etc.

At the time of independence, moneylenders and traders exploited small and marginal farmers and landless labourers by lending to them on high interest rates and by manipulating the accounts to keep them in a debt-trap. A major change occurred after 1969 when India adopted social banking and multiagency approach to adequately meet the needs of rural credit. Later, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was set up in 1982 as an apex body to coordinate the activities of all institutions involved in the rural financing system. The Green Revolution was a harbinger of major changes in the credit system as it led to the diversification of the portfolio of rural credit towards production-oriented lending.

The institutional structure of rural banking today consists of a set of multi-agency institutions, namely, Commercial banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), cooperatives and land development banks. They are expected to dispense adequate credit at cheaper rates. Recently, Self-Help Groups (henceforth SHGs) have emerged to fill the gap in the formal credit system because the formal credit delivery mechanism has not only proven inadequate but has also not been fully integrated into the overall rural social and community development. Since some kind of collateral is required, vast proportion of poor rural households were automatically out of the credit network. The SHGs promote thrift in small proportions by a minimum contribution from each member. From the pooled money, credit is given to the needy members to be repayable in small instalments at reasonable interest rates. By March 2003, more than seven lakh SHGs had reportedly been credit linked. Such credit provisions are generally referred to as micro-credit programmes. SHGs have helped in the empowerment of women. It is alleged that the borrowings are mainly confined to consumption purposes. Why are borrowers not spending for productive purposes?

Rural Banking – a Critical Appraisal : Rapid expansion of the banking system had a positive effect on rural farm and non-farm output, income and employment, especially after the green revolution-it helped farmers to avail services and credit facilities and a variety of loans for meeting their production needs. Famines became events of the past; we have now achieved food security which is reflected in the abundant buffer stocks of grains. However, all is not well with our banking system.

With the possible exception of the commercial banks, other formal institutions have failed to develop a culture of deposit mobilization – lending to worthwhile borrowers and effective loan recovery. Agriculture loan default rates have been chronically high. Why farmers failed to pay back loans? It is alleged that farmers are deliberately refusing to pay back loans. What could be the reasons?

Thus, the expansion and promotion of the rural banking sector has taken a backseat after reforms. To improve the situation, it is suggested that banks need to change their approach from just being lenders to building up relationship banking with the borrowers. Inculcating the habit of thrift and efficient utilization of financial resources needs to be enhanced among the farmers too.

AGRICULTURAL MARKET SYSTEM

Have you ever asked yourself how food grains, vegetables and fruits that we consume daily come from different parts of the country? The mechanism through which these goods reach different places depends on the market channels. Agricultural marketing is a process that involves the assembling. storage, processing, transportation, packaging, grading and distribution of different agricultural commodities across the country.

Prior to independence, farmers, while selling their produce to traders, suffered from faulty weighing and manipulation of accounts. Farmers who did not have the required information on prices prevailing in markets were often forced to sell at low prices. They also did not have proper storage facilities to keep back their produce for selling later at a better price. Do you know that even today, more than 10 per cent of goods produced in farms are wasted due to lack of storage? Therefore, state intervention became necessary to regulate the activities of the private traders.

Let us discuss four such measures that were initiated to improve the marketing aspect. The first step was regulation of markets to create orderly and transparent marketing conditions. By and large, this policy benefited farmers as well as consumers. However, there is still a need to develop about 27,000 rural periodic markets as regulated market places to realize the full potential of rural markets. Second component is provision of physical infrastructure facilities like roads, railways, warehouses, godowns, cold storages and processing units. The current infrastructure facilities are quite inadequate to meet the growing demand and need to be improved. Cooperative marketing, in realizing fair prices for farmers’ products, is the third aspect of government initiative. The success of milk cooperatives in transformating the social and economic landscape of Gujarat and some other parts of the country is testimony to the role of cooperatives. However cooperatives have received a setback during the recent past due to inadequate coverage of farmer members, lack of appropriate link between marketing and processing cooperatives and inefficient financial management. The fourth element is the policy instruments like (i) assumrance of minimum support prices (MSP) for agricultural products (ii) maintenance of buffer stocks of wheat and rice by Food Corporation of India and (iii) distribution of food grains and sugar through PDS. These instruments are aimed at protecting the income of the farmers and providing food grains at a subsidized rate to the poor. However, despite government intervention, private trade (by moneylenders, rural political elites, big merchants and rich farmers) predominates agricultural markets. The need for government intervention is imminent particularly when a large share of agricultural products, is handled by the private sector.

Agricultural marketing has come a long way with the intervention of the government in various forms. Some scholars argue that commercialization of agriculture offers tremendous scope for farmers to earn higher incomes provided the government intervention is restricted. What do you think about this view?

Emerging Alternate Marketing Channels: It has been realized that if farmers directly sell their produce to consumers, it increases their incomes. Some examples of these channels are Apni Mandi (Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan); Hadaspar Mandi (Pune); Rythu Bazars (vegetable and fruit markets in Andhra Pradesh) and Uzhavar Sandies (farmers markets in Tamil Nadu). Further, several national and multinational fast food chains are increasingly entering into contracts/alliances with farmers to encourage them to cultivate farm products (vegetables, fruits, etc.) of the desired quality by providing them with not only seeds and other inputs but also assured procurement of the produce at predecided prices. It is argued that such arrangements will help in reducing the price risks of armers and would also expand the markets for farm products. Do you think such arrangements raise incomes of small farmers.

DIVERSIFICATION INTO PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES

Diversification includes two aspects – one relates to change in cropping pattern and the other relates to a shift of workforce from agriculture to other allied activities (livestock, poultry, fisheries etc.) and non-agriculture sector. The need for diversification arises from the fact that there is greater risk in depending exclusively on farming for livelihood. Diversification towards new areas is necessary not only to reduce the risk from agriculture sector but also to provide productive sustainable livelihood options to rural people. Much of the agricultural employment activities are concentrated in the Kharif season. But during the Rabi season, in areas where there are inadequate irrigation facilities, it becomes difficult to find gainful employment. Therefore expansion into other sectors is essential to provide supplementary gainful employment and in realizing higher levels of income for rural people to overcome poverty and other tribulations. Hence, there is a need to focus on allied activities, non-farm employment and other emerging alternatives of livelihood. Though there are many other options available for providing sustainable livelihoods in rural areas.

As agriculture is already overcrowded, a major proportion of the increasing labour force needs to find alternate employment opportunities in other non-farm sectors. Non-farm economy has several segments in it; some possess dynamic linkages tht permit healthy growth while others are in subsistence, low productivity propositions. The dynamic sub-sectors include agro-processing industries, food processing industries, leather industry, tourism, etc. Those sectors which have the potential but seriously lack infrastructure and other support include traditional home-based industries like pottery, crafts, handlooms etc. Majority of rural women find employment in agriculture while men generally look for non-farm employment. In recent times, women have also begun looking for non-farm jobs which is given below in the box-1.

Box-1: Tamil Nadu Women in Agriculture (TANWA) Tamil Nadu women in Agriculture (TANWA) is a project initiated in Tamil Nadu to train women in latest agricultural techniques. It induces women to actively participate in raising agricultural productivity and family income. At a Farm Women’s Group in Thiruchirapalli, run by Anthoniammal, trained women are successfully making and selling vermicompost and earning money from this venture. Many other Farm Women’s Groups are creating savings in their group by functioning like mini banks through a micro-credit system. With the accumulated savings, they promote small-scale household activities like mushroom cultivation, soap manufacture, doll making or other income-generating activities.

Animal Husbandry: In India, the farming community uses the mixed crop-livestock farming system-cattle, goats, fowl are the widely held species. Livestock production provides increased stability in income, food security, transport, fuel and nutrition for the family without disrupting other food-producing activities. Today, livestock sector alone provides alternate livelihood options to over 70 million small and marginal farmers including landless labourers. A significant number of women also find employment in the livestock sector.

Box-2

The above Pie-diagram shows the distribution of livestock in India. Poultry accounts for the largest share with 42 per cent followed by others. Other animals which include camels, asses, horses, ponies and mules are in the lowest rung. India had about 287 million cattle, including 90 million buffaloes; in 1997. Peformance of the Indian dairy sector over the last three decades has been quite impressive. Milk production in the country has increased by more than four times between 1960-2002. This can be attributed mainly to the successful implementation of ‘Operation Flood’. It is a system whereby all the farmers can pool their milk produced according to different grading (based on quality) and the same is processed and marketed to urban centres through cooperatives. In this system the farmers are assured of a fair price and income from the supply of milk to urban markets. As pointed out earlier Gujarat state is held as a success story in the efficient implementation of milk cooperatives which has been emulated by many states. Meat, eggs, wool and other by products are also emerging as important productive sectors for diversification.

Fisheries: The fishing community regards the water body as ‘mother’ or ‘provider’. The water bodies consisting of sea, oceans, rivers, lakes, natural aquatic ponds, streams etc. are, therefore, an integral and life-giving source for the fishing community. In India, after progressive increase in budgetary allocations and introduction of new technologies in fisheries and aquaculture, the development of fisheries has come a long way. Presently, fish production from inland sources contributes about 49 per cent to the total fish production and the balance 51 per cent comes from the marine sector (sea and oceans). Today total fish production accounts for 1.4 per cent of the total GDP. Among states, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are the major producers of marine products. A large share of fishworker families are poor. Rampant underemployment, low per capita earnings, absence of mobility of labour to other sectors and a high rate of illiteracy and indebtedness are some of the major problems fishing community face today. Even though women are not involved in active fishing, about 60 per cent of the workforce in export marketing and 40 per cent in internal marketing are women. There is a need to increase credit facilities through cooperatives and SHGs for fisherwomen to meet the working capital requirements for marketing.

Horticulture: Blessed with a varying climate and, soil conditions,  India has adopted growing of diverse horiticultural crops such as fruits, vegetables, tuber crops, flowers, medicinal and aromatic plants, spices and plantation crops. These crops play a vital role in providing food and nutrition, besides addressing employment concerns. The period between 1991-2003 is also called an effort to heralding a ‘Golden Revolution’ because during this period, the planned investment in horticulture became highly productive and the sector emerged as a sustainable livelihood option. India has emerged as a world leader in producing a variety of fruits like mangoes, bananas, coconuts, cashew nuts and a number of spices and is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Economic condition of many farmers engaged in horticulture has improved and it has become a means of improving livelihood for many unprivileged classes. Flower harvesting, nursery maintenance, hybrid seed production and tissue culture, propagation of fruits and flowers and food processing are highly remunerative employment options for women in rural areas.

Though, in terms of numbers, our livestock population is quite impressive but its productivity is quite low as compared to other countries. It requires improved technology and promotion of good breeds of animals to enhance productivity. Improved veterinary care and credit facilities to small and marginal farmers and landless labourers would enhance sustainable livelihood options through livestock production. Production of fisheries has already increased substantially.

However problems related to over-fishing and pollution need to be regulated and controlled. Welfare programmes for the fishing community have to be reoriented in a manner which can provide long-term gains and sustenance of livelihoods. Horticulture has emerged as a successful sustainable livelihood option and needs to be encouraged significantly. Enhancing its role requires investment in infrastructure like electricity, cold storage systems, marketing linkages, small-scale processing units and technology improvement and dissemination.

Other Alternate Livelihood Options:

The IT has revolutionized many sectors in the Indian economy. There is broad consensus that IT can play a critical role in achieving sustainable development and food security in the twenty-first century. Governments can predict areas of food insecurity and vulnerability using appropriate information and software tools so that action can be taken to prevent or reduce the likelihood of an emergency. It also has a positive impact on the agriculture sector as it can disseminate information regarding emerging technologies and its applications, prices, weather and soil conditions for growing different crops etc. Though IT is, by itself, no catalyst of change but it can act as a tool for releasing the creative potential and knowledge embedded in the society. It also has potential of employment generation in rural areas. Experiments with IT and its application to rural development are carried out in different parts of India (see the Box-3 given below)

Box-3: Every Village-a Knowledge Centre M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, an institution located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, with support from Sri Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai, has established the Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity. The Academy envisaged to identify a million grassroot knowledge workers who will be enlisted as Fellows of the Academy. The programme provides an info-kiosk (PC with Internet and video conferencing facility, scanner, photocopier, etc.) at a low cost and trains the kiosk owner; the owner then provides different services and tries to earn a reasonable income. The Government of India has decided to join the alliance by providing financial support of Rs 100 crore.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIC FARMING

In recent years, awareness of the harmful effect of chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides on our health is on a rise. Conventional agriculture relies heavily on chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides etc., which enter the food supply, penetrate the water sources, harm the livestock, deplete the soil and devastate natural eco-systems. Efforts in evolving technologies which are eco-friendly are essential for sustainable development and one such technology which is eco-friendly is organic farming. In short, organic agriculture is a whole system of farming that restores, maintains and enhances the ecological balance. There is an increasing demand for organically grown food to enhance food safety throughout the world (see the Box-4 given below).

Box-4: Organic Food Organic food is growing in popularity across the world. Many countries have around 10 per cent of their food system under organic farming. There are many retail chains and supermarkets which are accorded with green status to sell organic food. Moreover, organic foods command higher price of around 10-100 per cent than conventional ones.

Benefits of Organic Farming: Organic agriculture offers a means to substitute costlier agricultural inputs (such as HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc.) with locally produced organic inputs that are cheaper and thereby generate good returns on investment. Organic agriculture also generates income through exports as the demand for organically grown crops is on a rise. Studies across countries have shown that organically grown food has more nutritional value than chemical farming thus providing us with healthy foods. Since organic farming requires more labour input than conventional farming, India will find organic farming an attractive proposition. Finally, the produce is pesticide-free and produced in an environmentally sustainable way (see the box-5 given below).

Box-5: Organically Produced Cotton in Maharashtra In 1995, when Kisan Mehta of Prakruti (an NGO) first suggested that cotton, the biggest user of chemical pesticides, could be grown organically, the then Director of the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, famously remarked, “Do you want India to go naked?” At present, as many as 130 farmers have committed 1,200 hectares of land to grow cotton organically on the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement’s standards. The produce was later tested by the German Accredited Agency, AGRECO, and found to be of high quality. Kisan Mehta feels that about 78 per cent of Indian farmers are marginal farmers owning about less than 0.8 hectare but accounting for 20 per cent of India’s cultivable land. For such farmers, organic agriculture is more profitable in terms of money and soil conservation in the long run.

Popularising organic farming requires awareness and willingness on the part of farmers to adapt to new technology. Inadequate infrastructure and the problem of marketing the products are major concerns which need to be addressed apart from an appropriate agriculture policy to promote organic farming. It has been observed that the yields from organic farming are less than modern agricultural farming in the initial years. Therefore, small and marginal farmers may find it difficult to adapt to large scale production. Organic produce may also have more blemishes and a shorter shelf life than sprayed produce. Moreover choice in production of off-season crops is quite limited in organic farming. Nevertheless, organic farming helps in sustainable development of agriculture and India has a clear advantage in producing organic products for both domestic and international markets.

It is clear that until and unless some spectacular changes occur, the rural sector might continue to remain backward. There is a greater need today to make rural areas more vibrant through diversification into dairying, poultry, fisheries, vegetables and fruits and linking up the rural production centres with the urban and foreign (export) markets to realize higher returns on the investments for the products. Moreover, infrastructure elements like credit and marketing, farmer-friendly agricultural policies and a constant appraisal and dialogue between farmers’s groups and state agricultural departments are essential to realize the full potential of the sector.

Today we cannot look at the environment and rural development as two distinct subjects. There is need to invent or procure alternate sets of ecofriendly technologies that lead to sustainable development in different circumstances. From these, each rural community can choose whatever will suit its purpose.

RURAL EMPLOYMENT GENERATION

            In view of the uncertain employment in rural areas, the Government has initiated major employment generation programmes and one of them is the MGNREGS i.e. Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme which was started in the year 2006. The programme ensures guaranteed employment of 100 days to rural poor with minimum wages as prescribed by the respective state governments. The primary objective of the scheme is to augment wage employment. This is to be done while also focusing on strengthening natural resource management through works that address causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation, and soil erosion and thus encourage sustainable development. The MGNREGA was notified in 200 districts in the first phase with effect from 2 February 2006 and then extended to an additional 130 districts in the financial year 2007-8. The remaining districts with rural areas were brought under the Act with effect from 1 April 2008. Till now the progress has been good in terms of number of households provided employment, average wages per person days, and percentage share of women and SC/STs in total person days generated.

            Though MGNREGS has created employment to the rural unskilled youth for few days, the real benefits are still to be tapped i.e. there is no such scheme to provide employment to the skilled, educated and trained youth in rural areas.

Apart from these measure, we have to improve the rate of literacy in rural area so that the people will think rantionally. Along with it we have to improve the healthcare measures in rural area for over all development of rural society.

 Let us analyse the infrastructure of health care measures in rural India.

HEALTH

Health is not only absence of disease but also the ability to realize one’s potential. It is a yardstick of one’s well being. Health is the holistic process related to the overall growth and development of the nation. Though the twentieth century has seen a global transformation in human health unmatched in history, it may be difficult to define the health status of a nation in terms of a single set of measures. Generally scholars assess people’s health by taking into account indicators like infant mortality and maternal mortality rates, life expectancy and nutrition levels, along with the incidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

            Development of health infrastructure ensures a country of healthy manpower for production of goods and services. In recent times, scholars argue that people are entitled to health care facilities. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the right to healthy living. Health infrastructure includes hospitals, doctors, nurses and other para-medical professionals, beds, equipment required in hospitals and a well-developed pharmaceutical industry. It is also true that mere presence of health infrastructure is not sufficient to have healthy people: the same should be accessible to all the people. Since, the intial stages of planned development, policy-makers envisaged that no individual should fail to secure medical care, curative and preventive, because of the inability to pay for it. But are we able to achieve this vision? Before we discuss various health infrastructure, let us discuss the status of health in India.

State of Health infrastructure: The government has the constitutional obligation to guide and regulate all health related issues such as medical education, adulteration of food, drugs and poisons, medical profession, vital statistics, mental deficiency and lunacy. The Union Government evolves broad policies and plans through the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare. It collects information and renders financial and technical assistance to state governments, union territories and other bodies for implementation of important health programmes in the country.

            Over the years, India has built up a vast health infrastructure and manpower at different levels. At the village level, a variety of hospitals technically known as Primary Health Centres (PHCs) (see also Box-7) have been set up by the government. India also has a large number of hospitals run by voluntary agencies and the private sector. These hospitals are manned by professionals and para-medical professionals trained in medical, pharmacy and nursing colleges.

            Since independence, there has been a significant expansion in the physical provision of health services. During 1951-2000, the number of hospitals and dispensaries increased from 9,300 to 7.2 million (see Box-6); during 1951-99, nursing personnel increased from 0.18 to 8.7 lakh and allopathic doctors from 0.62 to 5.0 lakh. Expansion of health infrastructure has resulted in the eradication of smallpox, guinea worms and the near eradication of polio and leprosy.

Box-6: Public Health Infrastructure in India,

1951-2000

Item	1951	1981	2000
Hospitals	2694	6805	15888
Hospital/dispensary beds	117000	504538	719861
Dispensaries	6600	16745	23065
PHCs	725	9115	22842
Subcentres	-	84736	137311
CHCs	-	761	3043

Source: National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi, 2005.

National Rural Health Mission (NRHM): Healthy Villages

            NRHM was launched in April 2005 with the objective of providing accessible, affordable and quality healthcare to the rural population. Most prominent features of NRHM are involvement of communities in planning and monitoring, provision of untied grants to the health facilities and the communites annually, placing a trained female health activist in each village for 1000 population known as Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) to act as a link between the public health system and the community and bottom up planning. The prgramme is continuing in 12^th Five Year Plan with few changes.

            Under the NRHM the following interventions have been initiated:

·         Janani Suraksha Scheme (JSY): Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a conditional cash transfer scheme resulted in dramatic increases in institutional delivery. The JSY encourages women to make use of public health facilities for safe delivery.

·         Janani-Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK): JSSK is a new initiative to make available better health facilities for women and child. All pregnant women delivering in public health institutions will have absolutely free and no expense delivery, including caesarean section. The scheme is estimated to benefit more than 12 million pregnant women who access Government health facilities.

·         ‘Mother and Child Tracking System’ (MCTS): Tracking of Pregnant mothers and children has been recognized as a priority area for providing effective healthcare services. Mother and Child Tracking system (MCH) is a name based pregnant mother and child tracking system. It is a management tool to reduce MMR/IMR/TFR and track the health service delivery at the individual level. MCTS supports health and family welfare managers and policy makers in measuring and monitoring the efficiency of the maternal and child health services in terms of needs, effectiveness and capacity, efficiency and evaluating up to what extent the increase in efficiency in the delivery of maternal and child health services has contributed to the decrease in maternal, infant and child mortality.

·         Universal Immunization Programme (UIP): Routine Immunization: The UIP protects infants against six vaccine preventable diseases viz., tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis and measles. The standard immunization schedule developed for the child immunization schedule developed for the child immunization programme specifies the age at which each vaccine is to be administered and the number of doses to be given. Routine vaccinations received by infants and children are recorded on a vaccination card issued to a child. The establishment of a ‘Technology Mission on Immunization’ in 1986 provided extra impetus and coverage increased rapidly.

·         At the all-India level, 61 percent of children aged 12-23 months received full immunization. The coverage of immunization was higher in urban areas (67.4 percent) compared to that in rural areas (58.5 percent). About 8 percent of the children did not receive even a single vaccine. (UNICEF: Coverage Evaluation Survey 2009). Routine immunization contributes significantly to reducing under five mortality and morbidity.

Private Sector Health Infrastructure:

In recent times, while the public health sector has not been so successful in delivering the goods, private sector has grown by leaps and bounds. More than 70 per cent of the hospitals in India are run by the private sector. They control nearly two-fifth of beds available in the hospitals. Nearly 60 per cent of dispensaries are run by the same private sector. They provide healthcare for 80 per cent of outpatients and 46 per cent of in-patients.

            In recent times, private sector has been playing a dominant role in medical education and training, medical technology and diagnostics, manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals, hospital construction and the provision of medical services. In 2001-02, there were more than 13 lakh medical enterprises employing 22 lakh people; more than 80 per cent of them are single person owned, and operated by one person occasionally employing a hired worker. Scholars point out that the private sector in India has grown independently without any major regulation; some private practitioners are not even registered doctors and are known as quacks.

            Since the 1990s, owing to liberalization measures, many nonresident Indians and industrial and pharmaceutical companies have set up state-of-the-art super-specialty hospitals to attract India’s rich and medical tourists (see Box-8). Do you think most people in India can get access to such super-speciality hospitals? Why not? What could be done so that every person in India access a decent quality health care?

Box-7: Health System in India             India’s health infrastructure and health care is made up of a three-tier system-primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary health care includes education concerning prevailing health problems and methods of identifying, preventing and controlling them; promotion of food supply and proper nutrition and adequate supply of water and basic sanitation; maternal and child health care; immunization against infectious diseases and injuries; promotion of mental health and provision of essential drugs.             Auxiliary Nursing Midwife (ANM) is the first person who provides primary healthcare in rural areas. In order to provide primary health care, hospitals have been set up in villages and small towns which are generally manned by a single doctor, a nurse and a limited quantity of medicines. They are known as Primary Health Centres (PHC), Community Health Centres (CHC) and sub-centres. When the condition of a patient is not managed by PHCs, they are referred to secondary or tertiary hospitals. Hospitals which have better facilities for surgery, X-ray, Electro Cardio Gram (ECG) are called secondary Health care institutions. They function both as primary health care provider and also provide better healthcare facilities. They are mostly located in district headquarters and in big towns. All those hospitals which have advanced level equipment and medicines and undertake all the complicated health problems, which could not be managed by primary and secondary hospitals, come under the tertiary sector.             The tertiary sector also includes many premier institutes which not only impart quality medical education and conduct research but also provide specialized health care. Some of them are – All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi; Post Graduate Institute, Chandigarh; Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry; National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore and All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata. Source: Report of the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, 2005.

Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM):

            It includes six systems-Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy and Homeopathy (AYUSHN). At present there are 3,004 ISM hospitals, 23,028 dispensaries and as many as 6,11,431 registered practitioners in India. But little has been done to set up a framework to standardize education or to promote research. ISM has huge potential and can solve a large part of our health care problems because they are effective, safe and inexpensive.

Box-8: Medical Tourism – A great opportunity You might have seen and heard on TV news or read in newspapers about foreigners flocking to India for surgeries, liver transplants, dental and even cosmetic care. Why? Because  our health services combine latest medical technologies with qualified professionals and is cheaper for foreigners as compared to costs of similar health care services in their own countries. In the year 2004-05, as many as 1,50,000 foreigners visited India for medical treatment. And this figure is likely to increase by 15 per cent each year. Experts predict that by 2012 India could earn more than 100 billion rupees through such ‘medical tourism’. Health infrastructure can be upgraded to attract more foreigners to India.

Indicators of Health and Health Infrastructure-A Critical Appraisal:

            As pointed out earlier, the health status of a country can be assessed through indicators such as infant mortality and maternal mortality rates, life expectancy and nutrition levels, along with the incidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Some of the health indicators, and India’s position, are given in Box-10. Scholars argue that there is greater scope for the role of government in the health sector. For instance, the table shows expenditure on health sector as 1.4 per cent of total GDP. This is abysmally low as compared to other countries, both developed and developing.

            One study points out that India has about 17 per cent of the world’s population but it bears a frightening 20 per cent of the global burden of diseases (GBD). GBD is an indicator used by experts to gauge the number of people dying prematurely due to a particular disease as well as the number of years spent by them in a state of ‘disability owing to the disease.

Box-9: Community and Non-Profit Organisations in Healthcare One of the important aspects of a good healthcare system is community participation. It functions with the idea that the people can be trained and involved in primary healthcare system. This method is already being used in some parts of our country. SEWA in Ahmedabad and ACCORD in Nilgiris could be the examples of some such NGOs working in India. Trade unions have built alternative health care services for their members and also to give low-cost health care to people from nearby villages. The most well-known and pioneering initiative in this regard has been Shahid Hospital, built in 1983 and sustained by the workers of CMSS (Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh) in Durg, Madhya Pradesh. A few attempts have also been made by rural organizations to build alternative healthcare initiatives. One example is in Thane, Maharashtra, where in the context of a tribal people’s organization, Kashtakari Sangathan, trains women health workers at the village level to treat simple illnesses at minimal cost.

           

In India, more than half of GBD is accounted for by communicable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis. Every year around five lakh children die of water-borne diseases. The danger of AIDS is also looming large. Malnutrition and inadequate supply of vaccines lead to the dealth of 2.2 million children every year.

Box-10: Indicators of Health in India in Comparison with other Countries

Indicators	India	China	USA	Sri Lanka
Infant Mortality Rate/1,000 live births	68	30	2	8
Under-5 mortality/1,000 live-births	87	37	8	15
Birth by skilled attendants	43	97	99	97
Fully immunized	67	84	93	99
Health expenditure as % of GDP	1.4	5.8	14.6	3.7
Government health spending to total government spending (%)	5	10	23.1	6
Per capita spending in international dollars	96	261	5274	131

Sources: World Health Report 2005 and Economic Survey 2007-08.

            At present, less than 20 per cent of the population utilizes public health facilities. One study has pointed out that only 38 per cent of the PHCs have the required number of doctors and only 30 per cent of the PHCs have sufficient stock of medicines.

Urban-Rural and Poor-Rich Divide

Though 70 per cent of India’s population lives in rural areas, only one-fifth of its hospitals are located in rural areas. Rural India has only about half the number of dispensaries. Out of about 7 lakh beds, roughly 11 per cent are available in rural areas. Thus, people living in rural areas do not have sufficient medical infrastructure. This has led to differences in the health status of people. As far as hospitals are concerned, there are only 0.36 hospitals for every one lakh people in rural areas while urban areas have 3.6 hospitals for the same number of people. The PHCs located in rural areas do not offer even X-ray or blood testing facilities which, for a city dweller, constitutes basic healthcare. States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are relatively lagging behind in health care facilities. In the rural areas, the percentage of people who have no access to proper care has risen from 15 in 1986 to 24 in 2003.

            Villagers have no access to any specialized medical care like paediatrics, gynaecology, anaesthesia and obstetrics. Even though 165 recognised medical colleges produce 12,000 medical graduates every year, the shortage of doctors in rural areas persists. While one-fifth of these doctor graduates leave the country for better monetary prospects, many others opt for private hospitals which are mostly located in urban areas.

            The poorest 20 per cent of Indians living in both urban and rural areas spend 12 per cent of their income on healthcare while the rich spend only 2 per cent. What happens when the poor fall sick? Many have to sell their land or even pledge their children to afford treatment. Since government-run hospitals do not provide sufficient facilities, the poor are driven to private hospitals which makes them indebted forever. Or else they opt to die.

Women’s Health: Women constitute about half the total population in India. They suffer many disadvantages as compared to men in the areas of education, participation in economic activities and health care. The deterioration in the child sex ratio in the country from 945 in 1991 to 927, as revealed by the census of 2001, points to the growing incidence of female foeticide in the country. Close to 3,00,000 girls under the age of 15 are not only married but have already borne children at least once. More than 50 per cent of married women between the age group of 15 and 49 have anaemia and nutritional anaemia caused by iron deficiency, which has contributed to 19 per cent of maternal deaths. Abortions are also a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in India.

            Health is a vital public good and a basic human right. All citizens can get better health facilities if public health services are decentralized. Success in the long-term battle against diseases depends on education and efficient health infrastructure. It is, therefore, critical to create awareness on health and hygiene and provide efficient systems. The role of telecom and IT sectors cannot be neglected in this process. The effectiveness of healthcare programmes also rests on primary healthcare. The ultimate goal should be to help people move towards a better quality of life. There is a sharp divide between the urban and rural healthcare in India. If we continue to ignore this deepening divide, we run the risk of destabilizing the socioeconomic fabric of our country. In order to provide basic healthcare to all, accessibility and affordability need to be integrated in our basic health infrastructure.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES DURING POST-INDEPENDENCE ERA

The alleviation of poverty and unemployment continues to remain a major area concern of successive five years plan in the post independent scenario. The launching of Community Development Programmes (CDP) by the first president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad on October 2, 1952 was a land mark in the history of India, which ushered in an era of development with the participation of the people. Before the launch of Community Development Programmes, isolated schemes at Nilokheri and Faridabad were under the way. Etowah Pilot Project was also going on since 1948. Top priorities were given to ‘agriculture’. Other programmes include communication, health, sanitation, housing, education, employment, children welfre and small and cottage industry.

Panchayat Raj (1957)

            Planning Commission appointed a study team in January 1957 under the chairmanship of Sri Balavantray Mehta to the study the working of the CDP and examines the question of reorganization of the district administration. On the basis of the recommendations of the committee, the National Development Council endorsed the proposal of democratic decentralization on 12^th January 1958. Village Panchayats based on adult suffrage was already established in the villages as the primary units of local self-government under the Panchayati Raj Act of 1947. Under the Act of 1961, these Panchayats were connected with the institutions at the district and block level. Basically the three tier structure of Panchayati Raj as – Apex body at the District Level (i) Zilla Parishad (District Council), at the block level (ii) Panchayat Samiti (Kshetra Samiti), and at the village level (iii) Gram Panchayat (village council).

Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA, 1971)

           

The small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) started functioning from the year 1971. The objectives of the programme were-

1.         To assist persons specially identified from the target group of small farmers in raising their income           by helping selected small farmers to adopt improved agricultural technology and acquiring means of            increasing agricultural production like minor irrigation etc.

2.         To diversify from economy through subsidiary activities like animal husbandry, poultry, dairy       farming, horticultures etc.

3.         To assist farmers in getting the loan from cooperatives and other financial institutions.

Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Development Agency (MFALDA, 1971)

            MFALDA was launched in 1971 with the objective of increase the participation of marginal farmers and agricultural labourers in the process of development and shares its benefits. Initially, SFDA and MFLDA were working as separate agencies. In June 1974 both the agencies merged to form a common agency called Small and Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers Development Agency (SMFALDA).

Backward Area Development Programme (BDAP, 1971)

Agricultural and allied activities alone cannot provide employment to the people of all the areas. There has to be some alternative employment in the area other than agriculture and allied activities. The Backward Area Development Programme was launched in the year 1971 for providing skilled employment to the youth of the area so that the pressure on agriculture can be reduced.

Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE, 1971)

            This scheme was implemented during the last three years of Fourth Five Year Plan and started in the year 1971-72. The objective of the programme was to provide employment to 1000 persons  on an average continuously over a working season of 10 months in a year. To provide employment in rural areas, works like road construction, land reclamation, protection from floods, drainage, minor irrigation, soil conservation etc. were undertaken under this programme

Pilot Intensive Rural Employment Project (PIREP, 1972)

           

            This program was started as a pilot project in November’ 1972 to find answer to the rural unemployment problem in India. The projects were started as research and action projects. The project aimed at providing employment to one third of the unemployed persons every year and thus covering all unemployed persons in three years in selected blocks in the country situated in different economic and ecological conditions.

Minimum Needs Programme (MNP, 1972)

           

To secure essential infrastructure and social services to the weaker sections of the society especially in rural areas within a reasonably time, the minimum needs programme was introduced in the year 1972. The minimum needs programme include adequate food, shelter, clothing along with drinking water, sanitation, public transport and health and educational facilities which are essential to lead the graceful life.

Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP, 1973)

            Many parts of India are affected by drought frequency due to insufficient rains. Nearly 20 percent of cultivated land in India is under persistent drought. To provide adequate relief in such areas this programme was launched in 1973.

20 Point Economic Programme (1975)

            Under the slogan of “Garibi Hatao” (Remove Poverty), this programme was conceived by the late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi and launched on 1^st July 1975. The Programme outlined the basic tasks of improving the living conditions of the economically weaker section of the society especially of rural poor. In the light of emerging new socio-economic environment, the programme was redefined, revitalized and announced to the nation on 14^th January 1982 and again restructured on 20^th August 1986 as per the direction given by the then Prime Minister Sri Rajib Gandhi and was implemented since 1^st April 1987 along with the Annual Plan 1987-88. This programme helped millions of poor by providing them with self-employment and getting basic amenities of life.

Desert Development Programme (DDP, 1977)

            The programme was started in the year 1977-78 with the following objectives 1. Controlling desertification of desert areas through integrating and connecting other related central/states programmes and to mitigate the adverse climatic conditions on crops, human and livestock population.

            2. To conserve/develop and harness the pond, water and other resources including restoration at ecological balance in the long run.

Food for Work Programme (FWP, 1977)

            Agricultural activities in the village cannot provide regular sufficient work to the entire landless labourer. To provide supplementary employment opportunities this programme was started in 1977. This programme was later on renamed as National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) from October 1980.

Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP, 1978)

            IRDP was launched in 1978-79 to achieve rural development through solving the problems such as rural poverty and unemployment. The IRDP and allied programmes have been restructured into a single self-employment programme called Swarnajyanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) from April 1999.

Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM, 1979)

            On the independence day of 1979, TRYSEM was stated as a centrally sponsored scheme. Under this programme 2 lakh youths were to be given training in the country each year. After the training these youths are provided financial assistance under IRDP. The TRYSEM was merged into Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) in April 1999.

National Rural Employment Programme (NREP, 1980)

            NREP was launched in October 1980. The objectives of the programme were (i) Generation of opportunity for wage employment, (ii) Creation of the community assets and (iii) Improvement of the nutritional states of the rural poor. To improve the effectiveness of NREP it was combined with RLEGP in 1989 and renamed as Jawahar Rojgar Yojana.

Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP, 1983)

            RLEGP was commenced in August 1983 to improve and expand employment opportunities for the rural landless with a view to providing employment for a last one member of every landless labour household for up to 100 days in a year. The programme was renamed as Jawahar Rozgar Yojana in 1998.

Scheme for Providing Self-Employment to Educated Unemployed Youth (SEEUY, 1983)

            This programme was started on 15^th Aug. 1983 with a view to encourage educated unemployed youth including women to take up self employment ventures in industry and service sector.

Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY, 1985)

            The Indira Awaas Yojana is in operation since 1985-86. The prime objective of IAY is to build dwelling units for SC/ST, free bonded labourers and also to non SC/ST rural poor below poverty line by providing them grants-in-aid.

Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY, 1989)

            JRY was launched on 28^th April 1989 by merging NREP with the objective of providing wage employment to at least one member of each rural poor family for 50 to 100 days in a year near to his residence. JRY was a targeted scheme to benefit people living below the poverty line in rural areas.

Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana for Educated Unemployed Youth (PMRY, 1993)

            The programme for educated unemployed was commenced in selected places on 2^nd October 1993 and was extended to all areas from 1.4. 1994 and SEEUY was merged with this programme. The aim of the programme was to provide employment to more than a million persons by setting up 7 lakh microenterprises by the educated unemployed youth.

Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS, 1993)

            The Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) was launched on 2^nd October, 1993. The Primary objective of the EAS is creation of additional wage employment opportunities during the period of acute shortage of wage employment through manual work for the rural poor living below the poverty line. The secondary objective is the creation of durable community, social and economic assets for sustained employment and development.

National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP, 1995)

            The NSAP was launched with effect from 15^th August, 1995 as a 100 per cent Centrally Sponsored Scheme with the aim to provide social assistance benefit to poor households in the case of old age, death of primary breadwinner and maternity. The main components of the NSAP namely; (i) National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), (ii) National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and (iii) National Maternity Benefit scheme (NMBS)

Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP, 1995)

            REGP, launched in 1995 with the objective of creating self-employment opportunities in the rural areas and small towns, is being implemented by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). Under REGP, entrepreneurs can establish village industries by availing of margin money assistance from the KVIC and bank loans, for projects with a maximum cost of Rs. 25 lakh.

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY, 1999)

            The single self-employment programme of Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), started with effect from 1.4.1999, has been conceived keeping in view the strengths and weaknesses of the earlier schemes of integrated Rural development Programme (IRDP) and Allied Programmes along with Million Wells Scheme (MWS).

            The objective of the programme was to bring the existing poor families above the poverty line by covering all aspects of self employment viz. organization of the rural poor into Self help Groups (SHGs) and their capacity building, planning of activity clusters, infrastructure build up, technology, credit and marketing.

Annapurna Yojana (1999)

            In 1999-2000, the Government had announced the launching of a new scheme ‘Annapurna’ to provide food security to those indigent senior citizens who are not covered under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and who have no income of their own and none to take care of them in the village. ‘Annapurna’ will provide 10 kg. of food grains per month free of cost to all such persons who are eligible for old age pensions but are presently not receiving it and whose children are not residing in the same village.

Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY, 1999)

            The Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) has been recast as the Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) with effect from 1.4.1999 with primary objective of creation of demand driven community village infrastructure including durable assets at the village level and assets to enable the rural poor to increase the opportunities for sustained employment. The secondary objective is generation of supplementary employment for the unemployed poor in the rural areas.

Samagra Awaas Yojana (SAY, 1999)

            Samagra Awaas Yojana, a comprehensive housing scheme, was launched in 1999- 2000 on pilot project basis in one block in each with a view to ensuring integrated provision of shelter, sanitation and drinking water. The underlying philosophy is to provide for convergence of the existing rural housing, sanitation and water supply schemes with special emphasis on technology transfer, human resource development and habitat improvement with people’s participation.

Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY, 2000)

AAY launched in December 2000 provides food grains at a highly subsidized rate of Rs. 2.00 per kg for wheat and Rs. 3.00 per kg for rice to the poor families under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). The scale of issue, which was initially 25 kg per family per month, was increased to 35 kg per family per month from April 1, 2002.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY, 2000)

            The PMGSY, launched in December 2000 as a 100 per cent Centrally Sponsored Scheme, aims at providing rural connectivity to unconnected habitations with population of 500 persons or more in the rural areas by the end of the Tenth Plan period.

Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY, 2000)

            PMGY launched in 2000-01 envisages allocation of Additional Central Assitance (ACA) to the States and UTs for selected basic services such as primary health, primary education, rural shelter, rural drinking water, nutrition and rural electrification.

Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY, 2001)

            This Programme was launched on 25^th September 2001 to provide additional wage employment in the rural areas as also food security, alongside the creation of durable community, social and economic infrastructure in the rural areas. The programme is self-targeting in nature with special emphasis to provide wage employment to women, schedule castes, schedules tribes etc.

National Food for Work Programme (NFWP, 2004)

In line with the National Common Minimum Programme, National Food for Work Programme was launched on November 14, 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country with the objective to intensify the generation of supplementary wage employment. The programme is open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual unskilled work.

Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY, 2005)

           

            RGGVY was launched in April 2005 with a view to developing the rural electricity infrastructure and household electrification to provide access to electricity to all rural households.

National Rural Health Mission (NRHM, 2005)

            NRHM was launched in April, 2005 with a special focus on Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) services and Disease Control Programme. In addition there were process targets related to facility development, community process, and governance reform

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA, 2005)

            To provide means of livelihood and reduce the quantum of poverty, especially in rural areas, the then ruling UPA Government at the centre enacted a law to provide guarantee of livelihood security in rural areas of the country. The pro active measure becomes Act when the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill was unanimously passed by Parliament on Aug. 23, 2005 and notified in Sept. 7, 2005.

            The National Rural Employer Guarantee Act (NREGA), currently known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), aims at enhancing livelihood security of households in rural areas of country by providing at least one hundred (100) days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Bharat Nirman Yojana

Bharat Nirman is a business plan for rural infrastructure which was implemented by the Government of India in order to provide some basic amenities to the rural India. The objectives of the plan are as followings.

·         It aims at providing safe drinking water to all the under developed areas in India by 2012.

·         It also aims to develop housing facilities for the poor. Initially the scheme targeted 60 lakh additional houses to be constructed for the poor within the year 2009, but now the plan has been extended to 2014 and the targeted house to be constructed has been increased to 1.2 crore.

·         The plan also includes to cover 40% of the rural area with telecommunication facilities by the year 2014 and provide broadband coverage to all the 2.5 lakh Panchayats by the year 2012.

·         The plans suggests to construct all weather roads by the year 2012 in order to connect all the villages of India having a minimum population of 1000 ( 500 in case of hilly or tribal areas).

·         The plan aims to provide electricity to every village by the year 2012.

·         The plan aims to provide an additional one crore hectare of irrigational land by the year 2012.^[2]

Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP, 2008)

            PMEGP has been introduced in 2008 by merging PMRY and REGP with the objective of providing employment to the educated unemployed youth. The scheme facilitates self-employment through setting up of industries/service and business ventures a limited amount of Bank-loan with subsidy on the recommendation of Task force Committees constituted for the purpose.

National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP, 2009)

This is a flagship programme of the government and a component of the Bharat NIrman with the objective of ensuring provision of safe and adequate drinking water supply through head pumps, piped water supply etc. to all rural areas, households and persons. This was launched in 2009 by merging Accelerated Rural water supply programme, Swajaldhara and National Rural Quality Monitoring and Surveillance.

National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM, 2013)

            Recently, the Ministry  of Rural Development launched (April 1, 2013) NRLM by restructuring SGSY scheme. This is a flagship programme of the Govt. of India for reducing poverty through building, nurturing and strengthening the institutions of the poor particularly women, including SHGs and their federations, and enabling these institutions to access a range financial and livelihood services.

            Apart from these, a number of programmes like Valmiki Ambedkar Awaas Yojana (VAMBAY), Self Employment Programme for Urban Poor (SEPUP), Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY) [which consists of three schemes viz. Scheme for setting up of Urban Micro Enterprise (SUME), Scheme for Employment through Housing and Shelter Up gradation (SHASU)], Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana etc. were introduced during different plan period for tackling the problem of poverty and unemployment in urban areas. These programmes are the best means for promoting sustainable and inclusive growth of rural India.

National Food Security Act – 2013

The Indian National Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act), was signed into law September 12, 2013, retroactive to July 5, 2013.^[1] This law aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of India's 1.2 billion people.^[2] Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries are to be able to purchase 5 kilograms per eligible person per month of cereals at the following prices:

·         rice at 3 (4.8¢ US) per kg

·         wheat at 2 (3.2¢ US) per kg

·         coarse grains (millet) at 1 (1.6¢ US) per kg.

Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free meals. The bill has been highly controversial. It was introduced into India's parliament in December 2012, promulgated as a presidential ordinance on July 5, 2013, and enacted into law in August 2013.

Salient features of National Food Security Act 2013

1.         75% of rural and 50% of the urban population are entitled for three years from enactment to five kg             food grains per month at 3 (4.8¢ US), 2 (3.2¢ US), 1 (1.6¢ US) per kg for rice, wheat and coarse             grains (millet), respectively;^[5]

2.         The states are responsible for determining eligibility;

3.         Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a nutritious "take home ration" of 600 Calories       and a maternity benefit of at least Rs 6,000 for six months;

4.         Children 6 months to 14 years of age are to receive free hot meals or "take home rations";

5.         The central government will provide funds to states in case of short supplies of food grains;

6.         The current food grain allocation of the states will be protected by the central government for at least      six months;

7.         The state government will provide a food security allowance to the beneficiaries in case of non-    supply of food grains;

8.         The Public Distribution System is to be reformed;

9.         The eldest woman in the household, 18 years or above, is the head of the household for the issuance        of the ration card;

10.       There will be state- and district-level redress mechanisms; and

11.       State Food Commissions will be formed for implementation and monitoring of the provisions of the        Act.

12.       The cost of the implementation is estimated to be $22 billion(1.25 lac crore), approximately 1.5 % of             GDP.

13.       The poorest who are covered under the Antodaya anna yojna will remain entitled to the 35 kg of grains allotted to them under the mentioned scheme.

Though government of India has adopted many programmes of rural development, their success depend upon the way they are implemented at the grass root level as well as the active participation of the people.