Lok Sabha Question No. 724 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-07
Subject: Smart Villages
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Sudheer Gupta, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Shrirang Appa Barne, Prataprao  Jadhav, Bidyut Baran Mahato

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 724 ANSWERED ON 07/02/2023

## SMART VILLAGES

## 724. SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE: SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK: SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE: SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV: SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to take any steps for the development of rural villages as Smart Villages on the line of Smart Cities project and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the roadmap envisaged by the Government for the development of villages as Smart Villages;
- (c) the measures taken by the Government to reduce the diametric difference/disparities between rural and urban areas with respect to the availability of basic facilities;
- (d) whether any initiatives have been taken to ensure the socio-economic security of the people in rural areas during the last three years and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government has proposed to formulate a policy for smart villages equipped with all modern facilities; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof along with the criteria fixed for selection/identification of villages for the said purpose?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a) & (b) There is no proposal under consideration with the Ministry of Rural Development, at  present,  on  formulation  of  policy  of  Smart  Villages.  However,  under  Shyama  Prasad MukherjiRurban Mission (SPMRM), different  modern amenities  are  being  created  in  rural areas through convergence of funds and resources under Centrally Sponsored, Central Sector and  States  schemes  incentivized  by  dedicated  Critical  Gap  Fund  (CGF).  Some  important modern amenities, created under 21components of SPMRM in the Rurban Clusters across the country, include creation of smart classroom, Wi-Fi hotspots, Citizen Service Centres, Solid and Liquid Waste Treatment Plants, Solar Water Pumps, Water ATMs, e-Rickshaw, Digital Library, etc.

(c) & (d)  Various measures taken by the government to improve access to basic amenities in rural  areas,  and  the  initiatives  to  ensure  the  socio-economic  security  of  the  rural  people during  the  last  three  years  include  implementation  of  several  Central  Sector  and  Centrally Sponsored programmes/schemes/mission/campaigns by different ministries viz. Ministry of Rural  Development,  Ministry  of  Power  and  Department  of  Drinking  Water  and  Sanitation and other ministries and departments.

Important  programmes/schemes/mission/campaigns  which  are  being taken up include, construction of village roads (rural connectivity) under Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana

(PMGSY),   providing  assistance  for  construction  of  pucca  houses  (rural  housing)  under Pradhan MantriAwasYojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), providing potable tap water supply to every household under Jal Jeevan Mission, providing access to toilets to all rural households under Swacchh  Bharat  Mission  (Grameen),  electrification  of  villages  across  the  country  under DeenDayalUpadhyaya  Gram  JyotiYojana,  providing  last  mile  connectivity  and  electricity connection  to  all  households  in  rural  areas  under  Pradhan  MantriSahajBijliHarGharYojana (SAUBHAGYA), etc.  Details  of  initiatives  taken,  and  achievements  made  during  the  last three years are at Annexure 1.

In  addition,  on  21 st February  2016,  with  a  view  to  bridge  the  rural-urban  gap,  through stimulating  local  economic  development,  enhancement  of  basic  services  and  creating  well planned Rurban Clusters , Shyama Prasad MukherjiRurban Mission (SPMRM) was launched by  the  Government  of  India.  The  mission  is  essentially  to  develop  cluster  of  villages  that preserve  and  nurture  the  essence  of  rural  community  life  with  focus  on  equity  and inclusiveness without compromising with the facilities perceived to be essentially urban in nature and creating a cluster of Rurban villages. Details of the Mission and its achievement of the Mission is at Annexure 2.

(e) &(f)  There is no proposal under consideration with the Ministry of Rural Development, at present, on formulation of policy for Smart Villages.

*******

## A. Pradhan MantriAwaasYojana- Gramin (PMAY-G)

Pradhan MantriAwaasYojana - Gramin (PMAY-G) is being implemented with effect from 1 st April, 2016 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'. Under PMAY-G, the beneficiaries are provided unit assistance of Rs.1.20 lakh in plain areas and Rs. 1.30 lakh in difficult areas, IAP districts and Hilly areas for construction of a house. Further, assistance  of  Rs.  12,000  is  being  provided  for  construction  of  toilet  to  the  beneficiaries through SBM-G, MGNREGS or any other dedicated source of funding. The beneficiaries are also  being  provided  LPG  and  electricity  connection  through  convergence  with  schemes  of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Ministry of Power. Under PMAY-G, a total of 2.83 crore houses have been sanctioned to the beneficiaries and 2.15 crore houses are complete as on 02.02.2023.

## (B)    Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY)

Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY-I) is a one-time special intervention launched by Government of India on 25th December, 2000 for providing connectivity by way of an allweather road to the eligible unconnected habitations as per core-network with a population of 500  persons  in  plain  areas.  In  respect  of  Special  Category  States  (i.e.  Arunachal  Pradesh, Assam,  Manipur,  Meghalaya,  Mizoram,  Nagaland,  Sikkim,  Tripura,  Himachal  Pradesh, Jammu  &  Kashmir  and  Uttarakhand),  the  Desert  Areas  (as  identified  in  the  Desert Development Programme), the Tribal (Schedule V) areas and Selected Tribal and Backward Districts  (as  identified  by  the  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  and  Planning  Commission),  the objective is to connect eligible unconnected habitations with a population of 250 persons and above (Census 2001). For most intensive Integrated Action Plan (IAP) blocks as identified by Ministry of Home Affairs the unconnected habitations with population 100 and above (as per 2001 Census) is eligible to be covered under PMGSY.

As the programme unfolded, a need was felt for consolidation of the existing Rural Road Network to improve its efficiency not only as a provider of transportation services, but also as a vehicle of social and economic development. Accordingly, in the year 2013, PMGSY-II was launched for upgradation of selected Through Routes and Major Rural Links (MRLs) with a target to upgrade 50,000 Km in various states and Union Territories.

Subsequently, in 2016, Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA) for construction/upgradation of strategically important roads was launched as a separate vertical under PMGSY.

Union Government had approved the PMGSY III programme in 2019, which mainly focuses on  the  consolidation  of  existing  Through  routes  and  Major  Rural  Links  that  connect habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals.

Since inception till 2nd February 2023, 8,04,316 km road length with value of projects of Rs. 3,62,314 Crore has been sanctioned and 7,25,579 km road length has been constructed at an expenditure  of  Rs.  2,93,683  Crore  (including  state  share).Moreover,  since  inception,  till 02.02.2023,  1,57,282  habitations  in  population  category  250+  have  been  sanctioned  for providing connectivity against which, 1,56,387 habitations have been provided connectivity. In  the  population  category  100-249,  6,253  habitations  have  been  sanctioned  against  which 6,011 habitations have been provided connectivity, exclusive of habitations that have already been connected by the State Govts. from their own programmes.

Physical  achievements  and  the  details  of  fund  release  and  expenditure  under  PMGSY incurred during last three years and the current year are as follows:

Physical achievements of PMGSY during the last three years and the current year as on 2 nd February 2023-

| Year                       | Sanctioned Length (km)   | Completed Length (km)   |
|----------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|
| 2019-20                    | 27,676.236               | 27,304.586              |
| 2020-21                    | 44,172.211               | 36,674.484              |
| 2021-22                    | 28,148.72                | 41,973.78               |
| 2022-23 (as on 02.02.2023) | 16,505.96                | 20,895.99               |

Financial achievements of PMGSY during the last three years and the current year as on 2nd February -

| Year                       | Release (Rs. in crore)   | Expenditure including state share (Rs. in crore)   |
|----------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| 2019-20                    | 13995.87                 | 21723.92                                           |
| 2020-21                    | 13651.46                 | 23935.01                                           |
| 2021-22                    | 13,952.99                | 27,833.71                                          |
| 2022-23 (as on 02.02.2023) | 13,927.86                | 18,458.80                                          |

## (C)    Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) -

Since August 2019, aiming at universal coverage and to enable every rural household of the country, including those in scheduled castes and scheduled tribes dominated areas, to have provision  of  potable  tap  water  supply  by  2024,  Government  of  India  in  partnership  with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) after subsuming erstwhile National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), with an estimated outlay of Rs.3.60 lakh crore.

Moreover, under the Mission, Gram Panchayat and / or its sub-committee/ user group, i.e., Village  Water  and  Sanitation  Committee  (VWSC)/  PaniSamiti,   has  been  empowered  for creation  of  water  supply  infrastructure  and  subsequent  operation  and  maintenance  of  invillage  water  supply  system  and  accordingly  there  is  a  huge  requirement  of  skilled  human resources in rural areas, viz. masons, plumbers, fitters, electricians, motor mechanics, pump operators etc., for which skilling of people living in villages is also being promoted under the Mission.

As on 2 nd February 2023, out of total of 19.36 Crore, 11.07 Crore (57.16%) rural households are provided with tap water supply. Thus 7.83 Crore more households are getting tap water supply from 3.23 Crore (16.7 %) households as on 15th August 2019.

## (D)   Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM(G)] -

Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM(G)] with effect from 2nd October 2014 with the main aim to make the rural areas of the country Open Defecation Free (ODF) by 2 nd October, 2019, by providing access to toilets to all the rural households. As sanitation is a State subject the  programme  has  been  implemented  by  the  State  Governments.   Government  of  India provides technical and financial support to supplement the efforts of the State Governments. As  reported  by  the  States/UTs  on  the  online  Integrated  Management  Information  System (IMIS) of SBM(G), more than 10.8 crore individual household latrines (IHHLs) have been constructed since 2 nd October, 2014 so far. All the villages declared themselves ODF by 2 nd October,  2019.   Having  achieved  the  outcomes  of  the  ODF,  Phase  II  of  SBM  (G)  is  now being implemented with the goal to convert all the villages from ODF to ODF Plus by 202425,  i.e.  to  sustain  their  ODF  status  and  to  make  arrangements  for  solid  and  liquid  waste management.

## (E)    DeenDayalUpadhyaya Gram JyotiYojana (DDUGJY)  -

Government  of  India  launched  DeenDayalUpadhyaya  Gram  JyotiYojana  (DDUGJY)  in December, 2014 for various rural electrification works including separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders, strengthening and augmentation of sub-transmission & distribution infrastructure, metering of distribution transformers/feeders/consumers and electrification of villages  across  the  country.  Under  DDUGJY,  all  States  had  declared  electrification  of  all Villages on 28th April, 2018. Works under the scheme have been completed and the scheme stands closed on 31.03.2022.

## (F)    Pradhan MantriSahajBijliHarGharYojana (Saubhagya)  -

The Government of India launched Pradhan MantriSahajBijliHarGharYojana - Saubhagya in October,  2017  with  the  objective  of  achieving  universal  household  electrification,  by providing  electricity  connections  to  all  unelectrified  households  in  rural  areas  and  all  poor households in urban areas in the country. Under the aegis of Saubhagya, as on 31.03.2019, all households were reported electrified by the States, except 18,734 households in Left Wing Extremists (LWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh. Subsequently, seven States namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh had reported that around  19.09  lakh  un-electrified  households,  identified  before  31.03.2019,  which  were unwilling earlier but later expressed willingness to get electricity connection. This was also sanctioned.  All  these  seven  States  had  reported  100%  households'  electrification  as  on 31.03.2021. A total of 2.817 crore households were electrified since the launch of Saubhagya, up  to  31.03.2021.  Thereafter,  some  States  reported  11.84  lakh  households  remained  to  be electrified, against which States reported that 4.43 lakh households have been electrified. A total  of  2.86  crore  households  were  electrified  under  the  aegis  of  Saubhagya  including additional  households  in  two  tranches  that  were  unwilling  for  electrification  earlier  but became willing later. The scheme stands closed as on 31.03.2022.

## Shyama Prasad MukherjiRurban Mission

Shyama Prasad MukherjiRurban Mission (SPMRM) was launched in February 21st, 2016 to deliver  catalytic  interventions  to  rural  areas  on  the  threshold  of  growth.  It  is  an  attempt  to make  the  selected  rural  and  tribal  areas  socially,  economically  and  physically  sustainable regions and strives to strengthen by providing economic, social, basic and digital amenities, thus  leading  to  sustainable  and  balanced  regional  development  in  the  country.  300  Rurban Clusters with thematic economic growth points are being developed across the country under this innovative Mission.

The Mission focuses on holistic development of clusters and to ensure an optimum level of development, twenty-one desirable components which are as under:

1. Piped Water Supply
2. Sanitation
3. Solid & Liquid waste management
4. Accesst of village streets with Drains
5. Village street lights & electrification.
6. Inter village roads connectivity
7. Public transport
8. LPG Gas connection
9. Skill development training linked to economic activities
10. Agri-service processing & allied activities
11. Education
12. Health
13. Digital Literacy
14. Citizen service Centres
15. Environment
16. Employment Generation & SHG Formation
17. Tourism Promotion
18. Sports Infrastructure
19. Social Infrastructure
20. Rural Housing
21. Social Welfare

The physical and financial progress made under SPMRM during the last three is as under:

## Physical progress (Cumulative):

|                 |   FY 2020-21 |   FY 2021-22 |   FY 2022-23 (as on 2 nd February 2023) |
|-----------------|--------------|--------------|-----------------------------------------|
| Works completed |        16040 |        18311 |                                    4710 |

## Financial progress (Cumulative):

## (Rupees in crore)

|                         |   FY 2020-21 |   FY 2021-22 | FY 2022-23 (as on 2 nd February 2023)   |
|-------------------------|--------------|--------------|-----------------------------------------|
| CGF Expenditure         |       605.21 |       739.45 | 653.91                                  |
| Convergence Expenditure |      2809.17 |      2961.29 | 779.75                                  |
| Total Expenditure       |      3414.38 |      3700.74 | 1,433.66                                |