Making Villages 'Aatmanirbhar': Government Initiatives for Rural Transformation

It is correctly said that India lives in villages. Considering this, Government has taken various steps to make villages ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant). The Ministry of Rural Development has adopted multi-pronged strategies to improve the economic well-being of people in rural areas with the main focus on increasing livelihood opportunities, empowering rural women, providing a social safety net, skilling rural youth, infrastructure development etc. with the aim to make rural India ‘Aatmanirbhar’.

In this regard, the Government is implementing a number of targeted programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY NRLM), Deendayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and Watershed Development Component (WDC) of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY)- with the primary objective is to develop rainfed/degraded lands.                                                                                                   

Efforts have been made by this Ministry to create civic amenities in villages and marketing infrastructure closer to farms, according to an official statement. PMGSY is a one-time special intervention of Government of India to provide rural connectivity, by way of a single all-weather road, to the eligible unconnected habitations in the core network. It was launched in the year 2000 as a measure towards alleviation of poverty in rural areas by providing access to basic services to the rural population by providing them good quality roads. Since inception till 22.07.2024, a total of 8,27,419km road length has been sanctioned, out of which 7,65,512 Km road length has been completed.

Recently, a separate vertical under PMGSY has been launched for providing road connectivity to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) habitations. The target length is 8,000 Km with a time span of 5 years (2023-24 to 2027-28). So, far 2,813.11 Km has already been sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN).

PMAY-G aims to aid the households for the construction of Pucca houses with basic amenities which is the first step to making them Atmanirbhar. Under this scheme, provisions have been made for convergence with other schemes of the Central and State Governments to provide the beneficiaries with toilets, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) connection, electricity connections, access to safe drinking water, solar rooftops for clean energy, enrolment in Self Help Groups (SHGs), etc.

Out of the total target of 2.95 crore, more than 2.94 crore houses have been sanctioned and 2.64 crore houses have been constructed, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan informed the Rajya Sabha.