MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SUDERSHAN BHAGAT)
(a) Primarily, the goal is for each Member of Parliament to develop three Adarsh Grams by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024. The broad timelines suggested in the SAGY Guidelines for different activities in the selection and development of Adarsh Grams are as under:-
Item of work Time from the date of launch
Selection of Adarsh Gram One month Awareness generation on the scheme Two months Environment creation and social mobilisation Three months Initialisation of First Stage activities Three months Review of First Stage activities Five months Completion of preparation of Village Development Plan(VDP) Seven months Approvals and sanctions Eight months Activities to begin Nine months Review of progress of VDP at Gram Sabha level and District Level One Year
(b) For identification of Adarsh Gram Panchayats by the Hon’ble Members of Parliament, a Gram Panchayat is the basic unit. It should have a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal and difficult areas. In districts where this unit size is not available, Gram Panchayats approximating the desirable population size may be chosen. In States which have larger Gram Panchayats, the Hon’ble Member of Parliament (MP) can choose any of them, as Gram Panchayat is the basic unit. The MP would be free to identify a suitable Gram Panchayat for being developed as Adarsh Gram, other than his/her own village or that of his/her spouse. The MP will identify one Gram Panchayat to be taken up immediately, and two others to be taken up a little later. Lok Sabha MP has to choose a Gram Panchayat from within his/her constituency and Rajya Sabha MP a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of a district of his/her choice in the State from which he/she is elected. Nominated MPs may choose a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of any district in the country. In the case of urban constituencies, (where there are no Gram Panchayats), the MP will identify a Gram Panchayat from a nearby rural constituency.
(c) The Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is primarily about unleashing the power of people who are expected to inculcate pride in village, encourage societal change/behavioural change, take collective responsibility and initiate People’s projects. The achievement of this is intended through the convergence and implementation of existing Government Schemes and Programmes without allocating additional funds or starting new infrastructure or construction schemes. With this aim, as approved by the Union Cabinet, secretaries of the relevant Ministries / Departments of the Central Government have been requested by the Ministry of Rural Development to make suitable changes, wherever appropriate, in the guidelines of their respective Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes / Programmes to enable priority to be given to the Gram Panchayats selected under SAGY. However, as a onetime assistance, the States are being given funds at the rate of Rs. 50,000/- for each SAGY Gram Panchayat to be used by the Collectors/DMs for meeting administrative expenses. Under the SAGY Guidelines, CSR funds has been identified as one of the resource. However, so far no special instructions have been issued to Public Sector Undertakings/industries to invest/participate in SAGY programme under Corporate Social Responsibility.
(d) The District Collector will be the nodal officer for implementing SAGY. The District collector will conduct a monthly review meeting with representatives of the participating line departments. The Member(s) of Parliament concerned will chair the review meetings. The heads of the GPs concerned will also be invited for these monthly meetings. At the district level, the Collector will appoint a competent Charge Officer of sufficient seniority, for every Gram Panchayat who will coordinate the implementation at the local level and will be fully responsible and accountable for the implementation. The District Collector will also actively involve Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows (PMRDFs) and identified professionals of the District Mission Management Units, of NRLM in the scheme, wherever they are there.
The District Collector will be responsible for:
$ Conduct of the baseline survey
$ Facilitation of village level plan preparation
$ Converging the relevant Schemes
$ Coordination of scheme implementation across line departments
$ Review of progress on a monthly basis and reporting to the State and Government of India.
$ Adherence to grievance redressal and proactive disclosure norms laid down by the respective scheme guidelines
$ Arrangement of frequent site visits to assess progress.
(e) The SAGY is aimed at creating sustainable and replicable models of Gram Panchayats all across the country. Two of the main objectives of SAGY are-
(i) to generate models of local level development and effective local governance which can motivate and inspire neighbouring Gram Panchayats to learn and adapt, and
(ii) to nurture the identified Adarsh Grams as schools of local development to train other Gram Panchayats, as specifed in Clause 4(iii & iv) of the SAGY Guidelines. The role and responsibilities of MPs, as specified in Clause 12 of the Guidelines of SAGY are basically those of a mentor, facilitator, guide, leader and advisor. They will lead and guide the initiative in their respective constituencies. The goal is for each Member of Parliament to develop three Adarsh Grams by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024. The Government has urged the State Governments/UTs to launch a similar Scheme for legislators, so as to have a greater number of Adarsh Grams Panchayats across the country. All the Chief Ministers of States/UTs Administrators have been requested to make an earnest appeal to the Members of Legislative Assembly/Council in this regard. In this way, a good number of model villages would be available for replication across the country so as to mainstream and actualise the dreams of people of rural areas in the States’ and the Centre’s common pursuit of a strong, prosperous and progressive India.
(f) Ministries / Departments of the Central Government have been requested by the Ministry of Rural Development to make suitable changes, wherever appropriate, in the guidelines of their respective Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes / Programmes to enable priority to be given to the Gram Panchayats selected under SAGY. Ten Ministries/Departments have either made changes in their Schemes/Programmes or issued appropriate advisories to the States/UTs or other implementing agencies.
(g) Village Development Plan is to be prepared for every SAGY Gram Panchayat by May, 2015, after which only the development is expected to start. The pre-plan formulation activities like systematic environment creation, social mobilization, participatory planning processes and baseline surveys etc. are presently underway. The present status of these activities is at Annexure I.
Download PDF Files
