Lok Sabha Question No. 368 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-30
Subject: Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Development
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rita Bahuguna Joshi

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 368

ANSWERED ON 30/11/2021

## IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## 368. SHRIMATI  RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has assessed the impact of COVID -19 on the rural development sector in general, and on the income of rural people, in particular;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the efforts undertaken by the Government for providing livelihood opportunities to the rural people during COVID -19 ?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (c):  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

- 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. 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.
- 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.

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  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:

- 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 770522 houses and completed 481210 houses with a total expenditure of Rs.5618.19 crore.
- iii. Under PMGSY, as against the target of Rs. 2902 crore, an expenditure of Rs. 1529 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.

Other major steps taken by the MoRD under various schemes during the outbreak of Covid19 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  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).
- 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  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 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).

*******