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Open Forum
New
Delhi, 22 October 2014
Village Adoption Scheme
DEPOLITICISING DEVELOPMENT
By Dr S Saraswathi
(Former Director, ICSSR. New
Delhi)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
launched the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) a week ago for creating model
villages throughout the country. Under this, all Members of Parliament are
required to develop a village of their choice for all-round development.
True to its commitment to move fast
on every front, the NDA government has announced this scheme closely after the Smart City
project. It will intentionally or unintentionally silence for a while criticism
of any urban bias in development and help alter the image of the Government as
pro-big business.
The project requires every MP to
identify within a month one village with population ranging from 3,000 to 5,000
in the plains and 1,000 to 3,000 in the hills for promoting development models.
By convergence and efficient execution of all development and welfare schemes currently
in operation, the selected village is expected to achieve socio-economic
development by 2016. Two more villages
will have to be covered by 2019.
No criteria is prescribed for
selection of the villages except these shouldn’t be of the concerned MP or of
his/her spouse. By 2019, around 2,500 villages of the total over six lakh could
be covered. An insignificant number indeed, but a big responsibility for most
MPs living away from rural areas.
“Whether you get votes or not from
the village, whether the village community supports you or not, you will have
to work for the village and its community and work as a facilitator, as a
catalyst for its change”, stated the PM in an obvious attempt to delink development
from party politics and electoral contests or say depoliticisation of
development in principle and practice badly needed in this country.
The MPs’ role has thus been expanded
by involving them in the task of ensuring implementation of plans and
programmes as well as helping them know the ground reality and interact with
workers at the grassroots.
This strategy to build model
villages has many precedents at the State and national levels. For example, the
Ambedkar Gram Sabha Vikas Yojana (AGSVY) was launched in Uttar Pradesh in 1991 for
convergence of all village development schemes. It was revised in 2008 by
another Government. In 2010, the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana came in
villages with a Dalit majority. In 2012, UP’s Samajwadi Party Government introduced
Ram Manohar Lohia Samagra Gram Vikas Yojana to replace the AGSVY.
Now, SAGY is in letter and spirit far
different from the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi or Jayaprakash Narayan, who had
firm faith in villages and villagers. Concepts like self-sufficiency of
villages, self-governing village republics, community life, and back to village
to stall rural-urban migration have given place to transformation of villages
with urban facilities. Urbanization and industrialization was going on even in Gandhiji’s
days, encouraging sceptics to question the relevance of his concept of
village-based economy and polity.
The impact of globalization is
received by villages as much as by cities.
Today, villages have no separate economy and existence or lifestyle. Technological
revolution has penetrated deep into villages. It forces reformulation of
village development models.
Remember, former President Abdul
Kalam enunciated the concept known as PURA – Provision of Urban Facilities in
Rural Areas -- a strategy for rural development largely centred on construction
of infrastructure, introduced as a pilot project in the 10th Plan
period.
The central idea is to bridge
rural-urban divide by creating economic opportunities outside cities and in
rural areas. Physical connectivity by roads, electronic connectivity by
communication network, and knowledge connectivity by establishing professional
and technical institutions are promoted in an integrated way to achieve
economic connectivity.
These four connectivities are to be
established through “holistic and accelerated development of compact areas
around a potential growth centre in a gram panchayat or a group of gram
panchayats through public-private partnership framework for providing
livelihood opportunities and urban amenities to improve the quality of life in
rural areas”.
In keeping with the aim of bridging
the gap between rural and urban areas, a key feature of PURA is enforcement of
standard of delivery of services in rural areas on par with those in urban
areas, and inclusion of a legally binding arrangement for maintaining these.
From Community Development Scheme
and National Extension Service introduced in the early 1950s for village
development with people’s participation, the nation has reached the stage of
installing urban life in villages as a Central government scheme. Firka
development, village development, extension service, village level officers,
gram sevaks and sevikas and so on, villages have seen many administrative
initiatives for village uplift. Along with this, local boards, panchayati raj,
gram sabhas are in existence from pre-independence days.
Indeed, the amount of literature on
village development schemes under CD Programme is so vast that one may feel
there is nothing more to add by way of fresh information. There is no dearth of
schemes but achievements are inadequate. Today, rural-urban divide is far
bigger than gender inequality.
Creating model villages and adoption
of villages for general or specific development are often undertaken by various
agencies. Volunteers of National Service Scheme could choose the programme of
adoption of a village for regular activities for 120 hours. Some banks have set
examples by adopting some villages for development. Selected villages are provided with
credit-cum-development plan for basic needs in rural infrastructure,
production, investment, and consumption.
Village adoption scheme is an age-old
project tested world over with different results. It is mostly a scheme for energizing rural
economy and lessening rural-urban gap. The programme sponsored by NABARD is
said to be a unique sustainable development model built on five key pillars – education, clean water and
sanitation, health, alternative income and livelihood, agriculture and food
security. The goal is to ensure better future for children and empower
community members to come out of recurring poverty.
This scheme of adoption of a village
for integrated development is going on in Kenya,
China, Ecuador, Haiti,
Nicaragua, Ghana and many
other countries. A primary objective is to eradicate child labour and protect
girl children through partnership with local community.
The Prime Minister’s Adarsh Gram
Yojana (PMAGY) was launched in 2009-10 by the UPA government for development of
villages with over 50% SC population. The object was to provide adequate
physical and institutional infrastructure that would satisfy the minimum needs
of all sections of the society.
Provision for holding Gram Sabhas
constituted by all members in the electoral rolls is made in the Panchayati
Raj. But, in reality, these are not really effective bodies. “Active Gram
Sabhas for empowered people and Accountable Panchayats” is a catchy slogan used
in government advertisements, but Panchayats are to be reminded to hold
meetings of gram sabhas to approve plans and budget, select works and
beneficiaries, and conduct social audit.
The situation proves that energizing
existing agencies and encouraging these to fulfil their role are more important
than adding further work on others. Interaction between MPs and villagers has to
grow spontaneously. It cannot be enforced by thrusting village level work on
those members who hardly visit their own constituencies after elections.
Despite doubts over the efficacy of
SAGY, one has to admit that it can be welcomed as a device to free village
development from petty local politics and factional fights. MPs also have to
train themselves to look beyond their political career and handle village
development as their duty towards the nation. --- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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