About: Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

  • Launched in 2014, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is a rural development programme broadly focusing upon the development in the villages.

  • The scheme offers each MP to select a village in his constituency for development. It has no budgetary allocation and aims to bring about convergence in government schemes to improve developmental parameters in the selected village.

  • The goal was for each MP to develop three Adarsh Grams (model villages) by March 2019, of which one was to be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) were to be selected and developed by 2024 under SAGY-II (2019-24).

  • Far beyond mere infrastructure development, SAGY aims at instilling certain values, such as people’s participation, gender equality, social justice, spirit of community service, eco-friendliness, local self-government, transparency and accountability in public life.

Objectives:
  • The development of model villages, called Adarsh Grams, through the implementation of existing schemes, and certain new initiatives to be designed for the local context, which may vary from village to village.

  • Creating models of local development which can be replicated in other villages.

Identification of villages:
  • MPs can select any gram panchayat, other than their own village or that of their spouse, to be developed as an Adarsh Gram.

  • The village must have a population of 3000-5000 people if it is located in the plains, or 1000-3000 people if located in hilly areas.

  • Lok Sabha MPs can choose a village from their constituency, and Rajya Sabha MPs from the state from which they are elected. Nominated members can choose a village from any district of the country.

  • MPs representing urban constituencies can identify a village from a neighbouring rural constituency.

Funding:
  • No new funds have been allocated for the Yojana.

  • Resources can be raised through:

    • Funds from existing schemes, such as the Indira AwasYojana, Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and Backward Regions Grant Fund, etc.

    • The Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)

    • The gram panchayat’s own revenue

    • Central and State Finance Commission Grants

    • Corporate Social Responsibility funds



Implementation:
  • A Village Development Plan must be created for each Adarsh Gram.  While each village will develop a list of activities to be carried out, based on its own resources and requirements, possible activities have been listed in the guidelines for the scheme.

  • For example, Adarsh Grams can work towards providing universal access to basic healthcare facilities, promoting diversified livelihoods through agriculture related livelihoods and skill development, providing pension for all eligible families, housing for all, and promoting social forestry.

 
News Summary:
  • The Union Ministry of Rural Development held the meeting of the first performance review committee (PRC) for the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).

  • During the meeting, the implementation of the scheme across states was also discussed.

  • It was noted that the number of gram panchayats identified by the MPs under SAGY remain much below the target.

    • More than 400 Gram Panchayats have been identified by the MPs under SAGY-II (2019-24) till 24th August 2019.

    • However, this was far below the targeted identification under SAGY-II (2019-24). The plan was for five Adarsh Grams (one per year) to be selected and developed by 2024 by each MP (nearly 800 MPs) under SAGY-II (2019-24).



  • The committee reiterated the importance of SAGY among the central schemes, especially for the creation of development clusters and directed the States to ensure diligent implementation of the Scheme.

Issues with the scheme:
  • Earlier, a study commissioned by the Rural Development Ministry observed that the SAGY has not made any perceptible impact and the villages selected under it cannot be called “model (adarsh) villages”.

  • One issue is that the scheme does not provide for a budget but seeks convergence of existing schemes. States have demanded additional funds for the gram panchayats identified under SAGY.

  • Meanwhile, Lok Sabha MPs worry that picking one village in the constituency could trigger hostility among other villages which could cost them politically.

  • Another issue is that the MPs are being asked to do micro-level monitoring work in gram panchayats, which the MLAs see as their domain, thereby triggering a conflict between central and state legislators.

 Polity & Governance