Question : DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS

(a) the details of various steps taken by the Union Government for the development of rural infrastructure in the country including the schemes/programmes being implemented in the rural and left wing extremism affected areas for the purpose;

(b) the details of funds allocated/sanctioned, released and expenditure incurred under the above scheme/ programmes during the last three years and the current year, State/UT, year and scheme-wise;

(c) whether the Government proposes to provide more autonomy to States in the implementation of these schemes;

(d) if so, the details thereof;

(f) if so, the details thereof and the reason therefor; and

(g) the steps taken by the Government to remove the shortcomings in the implementation of these schemes/ programmes?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT)

(a) Department of Rural Development is implementing two major Infrastructure Development Programmes namely, Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) for Rural Housing and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for Rural Connectivity. The financial assistance provided under IAY is as below:

(i) financial assistance for construction of a new house is Rs 70,000 in plain areas and Rs. 75,000 in hilly/ difficult/ IAP areas.

(ii) financial assistance for up gradation of kutcha or dilapidated houses is Rs. 15,000 and

(iii) financial assistance for acquiring house site is Rs. 20,000.

PMGSY provides all weather road connectivity to all unconnected rural habitations having population of 500 or more persons in plain areas and 250 or more persons in the hilly States, tribal and desert areas including left wing extremism affected areas. The following special relaxations have been given to LWE/ IAP Districts for smooth implementation of PMGSY in such areas:

(i) All habitations in Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts, whether in schedule-V areas or not, with a population of 250 and above (in 2001 Census) are eligible for coverage under PMGSY as against the population of 500 in other areas.

(ii) In Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts, cost of bridges upto 75 metres under PMGSY are borne by the Government of India as against 50 metres for other areas.

(iii) In case of LWE/IAP districts, the minimum tender package amount has been reduced to 50 lakhs.

(iv) The time limit upto 24 calendar months is allowed for completion of work. No extra liability, if any, on account of cost escalation shall be met from the programme fund provided.

(b): The details of funds allocated/ sanctioned, released and expenditure incurred under the above scheme/ programmes during the last three years and the current year, State/UT, year and scheme-wise are given at Annexure-I and Annexure-II.

(c) to (f) : The programmes are implemented by the Ministry through State/UT governments based on the Guidelines of the programmes which assigns specific roles to different layers of the government.

(g) : The Ministry has evolved appropriate performance indicators for its programmes to remove the shortcomings in the implementation of these schemes/ programmes and to enable mid-course corrections to ensure efficient implementation at the grassroot level. It has evolved a comprehensive multi-level and multi-tool system of Monitoring and Evaluation for the implementation of its programmes. The important instruments of monitoring are: (i) Review by the Union Ministers, (ii) Web-based Management and Monitoring, (iii) Utilization Certificates/Audit Reports,(iv) Performance Review Committee (PRC)(iv) Vigilance and Monitoring Committees (VMCs), (v) National Level Monitors (NLMs) and (vi) Area Officer’s Scheme.