Measures were taken by the Ministry of Rural Development for providing relief and boosting employment and livelihood opportunities in rural areas during the Corona Virus pandemic. However, the Ministry has not undertaken any survey on the impact of COVID-19 on rural development sector.
Ministry of Finance, Government of India, on 26th March 2020, announced relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus. The relief package announced includes, inter-alia.
One-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 500 per month for 3 months (April, May and June 2020) to women Jan Dhan Account holders. In pursuance of this, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) implemented the scheme of relief package of one-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 500 per month for 3 months (April, May and June 2020) to women Jan Dhan Account holders through various Banks. A total of Rs. 30944.44 crores has been released towards direct benefit transfers to 20.64 crore Women beneficiaries of Jan Dhan account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) @ Rs. 500/- each for three months.
Ex-gratia of Rs.1000 in two installments (Rs.500/- each) to the existing old age, widow and disabled/Divyangjan beneficiaries of the schemes of National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP). A total of Rs. 2814.50 crore as ex-gratia was released in two tranches in April and May, 2020 to States/UTs under PMGKY for the existing 282 lakh beneficiaries of NSAP schemes.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) wage rate revised w.e.f. 1.4.2020 with average wage rate increase of Rs.20 over the wage rate of 2019-20.
Apart from this, Government of India launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) on 20th June, 2020 for a period of 125 days to boost employment and livelihood opportunities for returnee migrant workers and similarly affected citizens in rural area, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of the Abhiyaan were to provide immediate employment & livelihood opportunities to the distressed, to saturate the villages with public infrastructure and creation of livelihood assets to boost the income generation activities and enhance long term livelihood opportunities by giving focus on 25 works in 116 selected districts across 6 States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Abhiyaan is a convergent effort of ongoing 25 schemes of 12 Ministries/ Department of Central Government.
Four schemes of the MoRD namely, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS), Pradhan MantriAwaasYojana- Gramin (PMAY-G), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee RURBAN Mission (SPMRM) have been identified under the GKRA. The achievement in this regard is as under:
Under GKRA, a total of 50.78 Crore Persondays employment has been generated during the Abhiyaan with a total expenditure of Rs. 392923 crore.
PMAY-G has sanctioned a total of 770522 houses and completed 481210 houses with a total expenditure of Rs.5618.19 crore.
Under PMGSY, as against the target of Rs. 2902 crore, an expenditure of Rs. 1529 crore has been incurred as on 30.11.2020.
Under SPMRM, GKRA was implemented in 47 SPMRM clusters across the six (6) States viz. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand to provide livelihood opportunities to migrant workers and rural citizens. A total of 13,886 works with an investment of Rs.789.35 crore under both Critical Gap Funding (CGF) and Convergence were proposed during the Abhiyaan period, out of which 13,494 works (97%) were completed with an expenditure of Rs. 693.55 crore (88%) under GKRA.
Other major steps taken by the MoRD under various schemes during the outbreak of Covid-19 are listed below. All these programmes of MoRD are being implemented expeditiously for socio- economic development in rural areas.
Mahatma Gandhi NREGS which is a demand driven wage employment programme, provides at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. During the previous FY 2020-21, 11.19 crore persons were provided employment and more than 389.17 crore person days were generated. In current financial year 2021-22(as on 25.11.2021), 8.85 crore persons have been provided employment and more than 240.43 crore person-days have been generated under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS. During the financial year 2020-21, an amount of Rs. 1,11,170.86 crore has been released and an amount of Rs. 68,233.24 crore has been released in current FY 2021-22 (as on 24.11.2021) for the implementation of the programme.
PMAY-G aims to provide assistance to eligible rural households for construction of 2.95 Crore Pucca houses with basic amenities to achieve the objective of “Housing for All” in rural areas. In the FY 2020-21, a total of 4132930 houses had been sanctioned and a total of 3399516 houses had been completed and during the current FY 2021-22 (as on 25.11.21), a total of 1540459 houses have been sanctioned and a total of 2620496 houses have been completed under PMAY-G.
PMGSY 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. During the period of COVID, states were directed to accelerate the pace of works so as to create more employment opportunities and boost rural economy. Further, since 1st April 2020 till 25th November 2021, a total of 60,992 km roads worth Rs. 40,572 crore have been sanctioned under various interventions/ verticals of PMGSY, and 52,077 km have been completed at an expenditure of Rs. 37,526 crore (including state share).
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) aims to reduce poverty by organizing the rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs), and continuously nurturing and supporting them to take economic activities till they attain appreciable increase in income over a period of time. During the FY 2020-21, the loan disbursed to SHGs had been Rs. 84,143 crores. During the current FY 2021-22 (till September 2021), a total of 21.65 lakh SHGs have been credit linked with an amount of Rs 43093 crores.
There are two skill development programmes for rural poor youth under DAY-NRLM, namely, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs). Both these schemes are aimed at increasing employability of rural poor youth either for wage or self-employment. Under DDU-GKY a total of 38289 candidates had been trained and 49563 candidates had been placed in jobs during FY 2020-21 and during the current FY 2021-22 (till Oct’21), a total of 14,568 candidates have been trained and 21,369 candidates have been placed in jobs. Under RSETI a total of 207712 candidates had been trained and 138537 candidates had been settled during the Financial Year 2020-21 and during the current FY 2021-22 (as on 30.10.2021), a total of 114640 candidates have been trained and 61546 candidates have been settled.
Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development has taken special initiatives to get the project works implemented in the field and help generating employment opportunities for the aggrieved people. During COVID 19 period (FY 2020-21 & till Quarter-2 of FY 2021-22), an area of 21,909.6 hectares has been brought under plantation (Horticulture Afforestation), additional area of 1,86,727.9 hectares has been brought under protective irrigation, an area of 72,546.41 hectares wasteland has been treated and made culturable, 5.32 lakh of farmers have been benefited, 117.60 lakh man-days employment have been generated and 80,722 water harvesting structure have been created/rejuvenated under Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (Watershed Development Component).
This information was given by Union Minister of State for Rural Development Ms Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
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