RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
 The Concept of Rural Development.
• Has changed in the past three decades

• Until 70’s RD was synonymous with agro. development.

• 80’s – ‘a strategy designed to improve the eco. and soc. life of a specific group of people –
the rural poor’
World Bank
– Concerns were deepening rural poverty
– Changing concept of development.
– Emergence of diversified rural economy
– Non-income dimensions of poverty recognized

• Today – Inclusive RD.

• Goes beyond growth , income and output

• Quality of life – health, education, nutrition, living conditions

• Reduction in gender equalities

 India’s Poverty and Employment Statistics
• 300 million living below poverty in India

• Majority of the poor without infrastructure services necessary for

development

• India’s labour force is growing at a rate of 2.5% annually (~7 million) but
employment is growing at only 2.3%(~6.4 million); plus there are previous
back logs

• 60% of India work force is self-employed – many of whom remain poor;

nearly 30% are casual workers (get work only when they are able to get
jobs – remain unpaid rest of the days); only about 10 percent are regular
employees

• 90% of labour force employed in unorganised sector – no social/job

security; minimum wage act marginally implemented; In rural areas
agriculture workers form bulk of unorganised sector while in urban,
contract and sub-contract as well as migratory agricultural labourers.
 India’s Rural Infrastructure Statistics
Infrastructure (electricity and productive end-uses, telecommunication, transport and drinking water
and sanitation) is a necessary and critical ingredient for the economic growth and decline of
absolute poverty

• 18% of villages don’t have electricity and 46% of households are not covered –
leads to no lighting, no productive end uses thus minimal economic activity –
Requires Rs 1,07,823 crores for full coverage; average annual investments for last
two decades is Rs 8,800 crores

• Telecommunication – 1.9 per hundred of population; 98% of villages have public

telephones but this is not sufficient; Rs 92,690 crores for full coverage; BSNL
average annual budget Rs 2,700 crores

• 44% of rural population not covered by road network and transportation; Rs 15,
643 crores for full coverage; average annual investments Rs 2,133 crores

• 95% of rural population have access to some sort of drinking water source. The
operation and maintenance is poor due to lack of funds.

As is evident from the statistics above, the funds required to cover the demand is way
above what the government (and grants from international funding agencies) alone
can achieve. Hence the most plausible solution is for others to participate and for
alternative sources of investment.
 Challenges in Rural Development
• 71% of India’s population. is rural

• 29% of rural population. (>200 million people) is below the national

poverty line.

• Rural poverty declined at 0.73% per year over the period 1993-2005,
down from 0.81% in 1983-94.

• 46% of rural children under five, 40% of adult women and 38% of adult
men are underweight (compared to 33%, 25% and 26% for urban).

• 59% are small and marginal farmers and landless labourers who depend
on agriculture.
• Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar
together account for 40% of India’s rural poor.

• 16% of India’s population is classified as scheduled caste, and 8% as

scheduled tribe. These groups are dominantly poor and rural and face
particular socio-cultural barriers to development.

Source: Compiled from various sources including National Census (2001), National Sample
Survey, 61st round (2004/05); National Family Health Survey 3 (2005/06); Mahendra Dev
and Ravi ‘Poverty and Inequality: All India and States, 1983-2005’. Economic and
PoliticalWeekly. (2007). pp 509-521.
 Community Development Programme
•Gandhian notion of CD
– Rural upliftment and reconstruction
– 19 Point programme – Khadi & Village, Industries, Sanitation, Health
care, Economic equity, Communal Harmony, Education, Women
Empowerment

CD assumed high propriety after independence

– 1952 GOI launched 55 CD projects each covering 300 villages / popn.of
30,000
– 1953 National Extension Service project – similar objective, to cover
larger areas
– Began as a comprehensive development effort to rebuild rural life and
livelihood
• CD blocks treated as admin. units for planning and development with
separate budget.
• By first 5yr plan (1952-57) – 1114 blocks covering 163,000 villages were
operation
• By the sixties CDP covered the entire country
• Economic progress was core objective
• CDP was the main programme until the 3rd 5 Yr plan.
• Comprehensive in content
• Objective was to create conditions for high living standards and upliftment
of rural poor
• Agriculture, Animal husbandry, Roads, Health, Education, Housing,
Employment
 Implementation Facets of CDPs
– Headed by a block development officer
– BDO assisted by eight Extension Officers
– One each for agriculture, animal husb, Panchayat, co-operation rural
industries, rural engineering, social education, women and child
welfare
– VLV – BDO – Dist. Collector – Devt Comssioner– Planning
Commssion
– Govt officials prepared plan under Plng Commsn
– Initially no chance for community to demand any facility to solve their
problem
– Later advisory committee
• 1950s to mid 1970s – little achievement
• Economy slower compare to East and South- East Asian counterparts
• Land Reform Act 1956 – could not help poor and helpless esp. in North
India
• Increase in poverty in late sixties and early seventies
• Govt compelled to import food grain
 Panchayti Raj Institutions
• 1957 Balwant Rai Mehta Committee appointed to suggest measures to
remove obstacles from CDP
• Three tier system of local Govt. –
– Gram Panchayat (Village level),
– Panchayat Samiti (Block level),
– Zilla Parishad (District level)
• The three-tier system aimed to link Govt. and elected representative.
• To decentralize decision making
• To shift decision making closer to people and encourage their
participation
• To place Bureaucracy under people’s control
• PRIs only partially able to meet these expectations

• Elite capture of PRIs

• Welfare of weaker sections ignored

• Mid 60s

• Focus shifted to agriculture production

• Technological orientation to agriculture

• Central Govt. brings special Program's bypassing PRIs

– SFDA (Small Farmers Development Agency),

 –IAAP (Intensive Agricultural Programmes)
–IADP (Intensive Agricultural District Programme)
–TDA (Tribal Development Agency)
–MFAL (Marginal, Small Farmers and Agricultural Laborers Development Agency )
–Command Area Development,
–Drought Prone Area and Hill Area
• All these were financed and operated directly by the Central Govt.
• Agri initiative of late 60s increase food production
• Benefits reaped by rich, non-poor farmers in irrigated areas.
• Small and Marginal Farmers trailed
• Productivity increase from the Green Revolution in 1970s- 80s, however, did reduce
rural poverty
 Integrated Rural Devt. Programme
• IRDP introduced in 1979 for rural poor and weaker sections of society
• Earlier Programmes relied on delivery systems which suppressed self-reliance
• Shift from community development. to schematized planning
• Linkage between infrastructure and employment scheme drawn
• Programme design has credit based self- employment activity and not as
subsidy distribution exercise
• Decentralization of programme implementation through DRDA and Block
Authority
• Sub schemes –
– Development. Of women and children (DWCRA),
– Training of Rural Youth for Self -employment (TRYSEM),
– National Rural Employment Programme (NREP),
– Jawahar Rojgar Yojana (JRY)
• By Mid 80s – there are improvements in meeting the minimum needs of
poor .
• Progress in Elementary education, Health, Water supply, Roads

• Still around 1993-94, was 32% of population was poor

• In SC & ST this was higher by 17-22%

• Small land holding , Landlessness, Illiteracy were key factors

 Decentralized Planning For Rural Devt.
• Based on Sivaraman Committee report, Planning Comn. urged states in
1987 to consider Block as unit of Planning
• At Dist. level District Planning and Development council / District planning
Board – has elected and nominated reps headed by a minister or district
collector or a non official
• It planned, coordinated, monitored, reviewed, and finalized plan at block
level
• However people’s participation were still limited
• Gap between Bureaucracy and people
Panchayati Raj Reforms
– 73rd amendment in 1992
• Empowered PRIs to participate in development. and decentralized planning
• Dependency of villagers on Govt. officials and machinery reduced
• 29 items of Development. Transferred to PRIs –
– Agriculture
– Forestry and Environment.
– Industry infrastructure,
– Minimum needs
– Social welfare
– Poverty alleviation
– Maintenance. of community assets
• More than 34 lakh elected reps of Panchayats
• Broadest rep. base in any country in world
• Reservation for weaker section & women
• Gram sabha – Forum for discussion and annual planning
• Self help groups 9th five year plan(1997-2002)
 Between 1990 and present Phase
• Liberal economic policies and reforms introduced in the early 1990s

• Driven by rapid growth in the manufacturing and service sectors

• Growth rate in agriculture has declined since 1997 and remains low.

• The share of agriculture in GDP has declined from 43% in 1970 to 22% in
2004.
• Public investment in irrigation has fallen
 Thrust areas
• Economy growing at around 8%
• Paradigm policy shift in rural development - rural poor treated as resource,
an integral part of the development. strategy, and not as a burden
• Objectives are to
– Bridging the rural-urban divide.
– Guaranteeing wage employment and ensuring food security
– Making rural people the arbiters of their own destiny and to provide for
their economic uplift by self employment
– Creating rural infrastructure for better economic opportunities and
growth
– Ensuring dignified living – Shelter, water, clean environment.
– Restoring lost or depleted productivity of the land for better livelihood
opportunities
Approved outlay
1st 2 yrs of 11th Plan (2007- 2012)
Rs 36560 crores and 42400 crores
 Bharat Nirman
• Under Bharat Nirman, developmental works are undertaken in the areas
of irrigation, road, rural housing, rural water supply, rural electrification
and rural telecommunication connectivity.
• Three of the goals of Bharat Nirman fall within the mandate of the Min. of
Rural Development:
– rural connectivity
– rural housing
– rural water supply
• Specific targets so that there is accountability in the progress of this
initiative.
• Bharat Nirman an effort to unlock rural India's growth potential and key
for ushering a new era
• 'National Common Minimum Programme' (NCMP)
 Key Programmes
• 'National Rural Employment Guarantee Act'2005 (NREGA)
• Act guarantees 100 days of employment in a financial year to every
household
• a social safety net for the vulnerable groups and an opportunity to
combine growth with equity
• Structured towards harnessing the rural work-force, not as recipients of
doles, but as productive partners in our economic process
• assets created result in sustained employment for the area for future
growth employment and self-sufficiency
• Operationalized from 2nd February, 2006 in 200 selected districts,
extended to 130 more districts in 2007-08.
• The remaining districts (around 275) of the country under the ambit of
NREGA from 1st of April, 2008
 Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)

• launched on 25th September 2001

• objectives of providing additional wage employment ensuring food

security while creating durable community, social & economic
infrastructure and assets in the rural areas
• SGRY along with National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) have been
subsumed in the NREGA districts
 Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
(SGSY):
• Self employment programme for the rural poor.
• The assisted families (Swarozgaris) may be individuals or groups (Self-Help
Groups).
• Emphasis is on the group approach
• To bring the assisted poor families above the poverty line by providing
them income generating assets through a mix of bank credits and
government subsidy
• Organization of poor into Self-Help Groups and taking care of training,
credit, technology infrastructure and marketing
• Implemented by the District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) with
the active participation of PRI’s the Banks, the line Departments, and
NGO’s
 Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(PMGSY)

• Launched December, 2000

• 100% centrally sponsored scheme to provide connectivity to unconnected

habitations
• Road connectivity to all habitations with a population of thousand (500 in
case of hilly or tribal areas) with all weather roads by 2009
• Will lead to rural employment opportunities, better access to regulated
and fair market, better access to health, education and other public
services
• Bridge the rural-urban divide and pave the path of economic growth.
 Indira Awas Yojana (IAY)
• Since 1985-86 to help build or upgrade homes to householdsbelow the
poverty line
• Ceiling on construction assistance under the IAY currently is Rs. 25,000/- per
unit for the plain areas and Rs.27,500/- for the hilly terrains/difficult areas
• To impart transparency to the selection process of beneficiaries, a
'permanent waitlist' is being prepared under IAY.
• 60 lakh houses are to be constructed in a period of 4 year from 2005-06

• Against this overall target, 15.52 lakh were built in 2005-06 and 14.98 lakh
homes in 2006-07
National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP)
• To provide public assistance to its citizens in case of unemployment, old
age, sickness and disablement within the limit of the economic capacity of
the State
• Launched for fulfillment of this obligation in 1995-96.
– National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS)
• -Rs.200 per month from1st April 2006,
– National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)
– National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS).
– (IGNOAPS) launched on 19.11.2007
• citizens above the age of 65 years and living below the poverty line
• Annapurna Scheme for providing free good grains to the elderly
Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme
ARWSP
• Central government supplements States’ efforts for providing safe drinking
water and sanitation by providing financial and technical assistance under
two centrally sponsored programmes
– 'Accelerated Rural Water Supply' (ARWSP)
– 'Central Rural Sanitation Programme' (CRSP).

– By 2009, 55,067 uncovered, 3.31 lakh slipped back and 2.17 lakh
quality affected habitations are to be addressed
– approximately 6 lakhs habitations where water supply is a problem to
be covered
 'Total Sanitation Campaign' (TSC)
• 'Central Rural Sanitation Programme‘ (CRSP) launched in 1986 aims at
improving the quality of life of the rural poor and to provide privacy and
dignity to women in rural areas.
• In 1999, 'Total Sanitation Campaign' (TSC) under restructured CRSP was
launched to promote sanitation in rural areas.
• Follows participatory demand-responsive approach, educating the rural
households about the benefits of proper sanitation and hygiene
 Main Features of SGSY
 Formation of Self Help Groups of Rural BPL.
 SHGs are encouraged to inculcate the habit of thrift.
 Capacity Building and Skill Development Training of SHGs
 Provision of credit linkage and subsidy for economic activity
 Credit linked subsidy is provided in the form of Revolving Fund &
Capital Subsidy
 20% (25% for NE States) of the allocation for infrastructure &
marketing support
 15% of total allocation for special projects in the nature of
pioneer projects, capable of triggering growth impulses.
 Reservation of benefits for SC/STs (50%), Women (40%),
Minorities (15%) and the disabled (3%) swarozgaris.
 PERFORMANCE SINCE INCEPTION
Deliverables Apr.1999 - 2009-10
May’10

Total Central Releases (Rs. In crore) 14100 2230

Total Investment (Rs. In crore) 34000 6410
Total Subsidy Disbursed (Rs. In crore) 11000 1960
Total Credit Disbursed (Rs. In crore) 23000 4450
Subsidy Credit Ratio 1.98 2.27
Per Capita Investment (in Rs.) 24000 (avg) 31800
No. of SHGs formed (No. in lakhs) 38 3.89
Economically Assisted SHGs (No. in lakh) 9 1.36
Total Swarozgaris Assisted (No. in lakh) 140 21
Number of SC/ST Swarozgaris Assisted (No. in lakh) 67.92 (46%) 10.75 (51%)
Number of Women Swarozgaris (No. in lakh) 84.27(59%) 15.02(72%)
 Areas of Concerns under SGSY
 Uneven spread (weak in the poverty pockets in the country)
 Poor quality of SHGs
 Inadequate flow of credit-Need of multiple doses of credit
 High interest rates
 Inadequate Manpower & lack of professionals to implement the complex
and process oriented programme
 need a strong and huge team of community resource persons
 Inadequate institutional arrangement for training
 Fund driven rather than need based
 Little flexibility to states
 Most of the SHG enterprises economically unviable
  Need for up-scaling of placement linked skill development projects
 New Paradigm……

Where the poor participate as subjects and not as

objects of the development process, it is possible to
generate growth, human development and equity, not
as mutually exclusive trade-offs but as complementary
elements in the same process
 

 --- Meeting the challenge, Report of the Independent South Asian Commission on
Poverty alleviation, 1992
Pro-poor Perspective & Premises for Action...
Building organisations of the poor is an essential prerequisite for
poverty alleviation. Through these organisations, the poor can save and
invest efficiently
Empowerment of the poor is the means to poverty eradication.
Through empowerment, the poor can also assert the right to resources
intended for them and enhance their dignity and self respect
Poor women can effectively overcome their double burden through the
same process.
The need for sensitive support mechanisms to catalyse the process of
social mobilisation.

--- Meeting the challenge, Report of the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty alleviation,
1992
 Learnings regarding Way out of Poverty

 Poor have desire & capability to come out of poverty

 Capabilities are suppressed by variety of obstacles – psychological,
economic, social, religious, and political
 Way out of poverty
- Organizing the poor into institutions that they truly own.
-Building and nurturing S.H.Gs, enabling them to access credit for
coming out the high cost debt trap ( debt swapping)
meeting their consumption needs – food, health, education, etc
acquiring assets for income generation
 Flexible Design of NRLM
 Demand driven strategy
 Dedicated support organization for NRLM
 Universal Social mobilization of the rural poor
Access 2
 Building institutional platforms for the poor Markets
 Training and capacity building
 Developing pro-poor financial sector Access 2 Access 2
 Access to services and entitlements Finance Entitlements
 Linking with markets
Building Building
 Risk Mitigation Institutions Skills and Gender
of poor Strategies
 Convergence Capabilities
 Gender empowerment Sensitive Support
 Monitoring and transparency Organization
 National Rural Livelihoods Mission
Sensitive Support Organizational Structure
State Level Support Organization
Dedicated structure at District and Block Level

Demand Driven Approach: Moving away from ‘allocation based

approach’
States to prepare specific time bound action plans for poverty
elimination through (i) building peoples’ institutions, (ii) livelihood
development, and (iii) skill based wage employment

Accountability Systems: Institution of systems like social auditing

for transparent and accountability
 Financial Norms under NRLM
• 5% of allocation for Administrative Cost

• Rs 10,000 per SHGs for formation

• Rs. 15,000 RF per SHG

• Capital Subsidy -Rs. 15,000 per swarozgaris for general & Rs.20,000 for
SC/ST & Disabled subject to Max Rs.2.5 lakh per SHG
• Ensuring availability of credit at 7% rate of interest

• Rs. 7500 per swarozgari for training & CB

 Financial Norms under NRLM
• One time grant assistance of Rs. 10,000 to village/Panchayat level, Rs
20,000 to block level, Rs 100,000 to district level federations

• 20% of allocation, of which expenditure on innovative projects should not

exceed 5%. 7.5% to be retained at the centre for multi-state skill
development projects and remaining 7.5% for states to implement state
specific special projects for skill development and placement.
 Strategies/Interventions proposed to
be adopted under NRLM
 Participatory identification approach for the poor
 CRP Strategy for formation of SHGs and their Capacity building & training
 Federation to act as financial intermediaries
 Facilitating SHG Bank linkage
 Food security fund
 Health Risk Fund
 Risk Mitigation
 Livelihood Interventions in Agriculture (SRI,SWI), animal husbandry, off
farm activities
 Skills upgradation and placement of rural youth
 Role of PRIs, NYKs, NGOs etc.
• Identification of the poor
• Capacity building & training
• Infrastructural Support
• Linkages of SHGs with Banks
• Marketing support
• Maintenance of record of SHG/VFs/BFs/DFs
• Monitoring and Social auditing
• Dissemination of best practices
• Engaging youths as BC/BFs
 Role of PRIs, NYKs, NGOs etc.

• Career counselling for youth

• Database of youth – skills inventory and aptitudes survey
• Opportunities for skill training
• Opportunities for placement

• RSETIs – self employment

 Role of Media & IT

• Mass campaign through Radio, TV and print media by introducing

small films, TV serials etc
• Capacity building & training through Visual Media
• Development of content
• Showing best practices through media
• Promote community radio movement
• Use of local radio stations – involvement of local communities in
content
 Selected Institutions

National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) More than 50

years of existence is an apex body for undertaking.
• Training
• Research
• Action research

• Consultancy functions
Council for Advancement of People’s Action and
Rural Technology
(CAPART) Founded in 1986
• For improving the quality of life in the rural areas, particularly the poor
and socially disadvantaged . People below the poverty line, scheduled
castes and tribes, bonded labour, women and people with disabilities are
priority focus groups for CAPART.

• The major goals of CAPART are:

• To support voluntary organisations in implementing projects for
sustainable development in rural areas.
• To act as a national nodal point for development and promotion of
appropriate rural technologies.
• To promote and support voluntary action and people's participation for
rural development, through capacity-building for voluntary organisations
and rural communities.
• To act as a data bank and clearing house for information on the voluntary
sector, rural technologies and rural development.
• Facilitating community action for development.
• Building awareness on critical development issues.
• Building and strengthening village-level people and organisations.
• Promoting the development and dissemination of appropriate rural
technologies.
• Strengthening the capacities of voluntary organisations in rural areas.
• Creating employment opportunities and economic self-reliance.
• Creation of community assets and fulfilment of basic needs.
• Conservation and regeneration of the environment and natural resources.
• Enabling women, persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged
groups to participate in development
 End note

“The long arms of the states shortening and the reach of

the market forces is being extended but unevenly…
The question is no longer whether decentralised
collective action can be effective, but under what
circumstances it is appropriate, and how positive
synergy between the state, market and civil
organisations can most efficiently and fairly supply
public goods…
--------Norman Uphoff