Lok Sabha Question No. 3817 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-21
Subject: Programmes for Rural Poverty Alleviation during Corona Pandemic
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Malook Nagar

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3817

ANSWERED ON 21/12/2021

## PROGRAMMES FOR RURAL POVERTY ALLEVIATION DURING CORONA PANDEMIC

## 3817.   SHRI MALOOK NAGAR:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of policies and programmes formulated by the Government to overcome the horror of corona pandemic and also to provide adequate employment in the villages for rural poverty alleviation as well as allround development of villages; and
- (b) the State-wise details of number of villages which have received or are receiving the benefits of these policies formulated by the Government so far?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b): 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, inter-alia, included:

- i. 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  exgratia  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.30,944.44 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.
- ii. 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.
- iii. 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.
2.       The State-wise details of number of villages which have received these benefits under PMGKY is not maintained by MoRD.
3.        Apart  from  this,  Government  of  India  launched  the  Garib  Kalyan  Rojgar  Abhiyaan (GKRA) on 20 th 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  list  of  these  districts  is  available  at  http://gkra.nic.in.   The  Abhiyaan  is  a convergent effort of ongoing 25 schemes of 12 Ministries/ Department of Central Government.

4.        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:

- i. Under  GKRA,  a  total  of  50.78  crore  persondays  employment  has  been  generated during the Abhiyaan with a total expenditure of Rs. 392923 crore.
- ii. PMAY-G has sanctioned a total of 7,70,522 houses and completed 4,81,210 houses with a total expenditure of Rs.5618.19 crore.
- iii. Under PMGSY, as against the target of Rs.2,902 crore, an expenditure of Rs.1,529 crore has been incurred as on 30.11.2020.
- iv. 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.
5.      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.
- i. 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.
- ii. 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.
- iii. 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  15th  December  2021,  a  total  of 61,754  km  roads  worth  Rs.  40,340  crore  have  been  sanctioned  under  various interventions/  verticals  of  PMGSY,  and   54,356  km  have  been  completed  at  an expenditure of Rs. 39,252 crore (including state share).
- iv. 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.
- v. There  are  two  skill  development  programmes  for  rural  poor  youth  under  DAYNRLM, 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  selfemployment.  Under  DDU-GKY  a  total  of  38,289  candidates  had  been  trained  and 49,563 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 202021  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.
- vi. 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).

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