MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. RAGHUVANSH PRASAD SINGH)
(a) to (f) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (f) of Lok Sabha Starred Question
No. 323 to be answered on 18.8.2006.
Two hundred and twenty one Special projects under Swaranjayanti Gram
Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) have been sanctioned/approved by the Government so far
since inception of the scheme in April, 1999. A statement indicating the number of
special projects sanctioned under SGSY, State-wise, is given at Annexure-I.
The number of special project proposals under SGSY received from various
States since inception of the scheme up to 31.3.2006 and during the current year (2006-
07) State wise is given at Annexure-II. The State wise number of special projects under
SGSY sanctioned/approved during the last three years (2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06)
and during the current year (2006-07) is given in Annexure-III. The details of Central
share of funds released for special projects under SGSY during the same period are
given in Annexure-IV. Since inception of the scheme, 665 proposals have been
received by the Government, out of which, 221 projects have been sanctioned/approved
so far, 365 project proposals have been returned to the concerned State Governments or
other sponsoring agencies for various reasons such as non compliance with the
guidelines of SGSY special projects, non-viability of projects, lack of focus on Below
Poverty Line (BPL) beneficiaries etc. and 79 project proposals are with the Government
at various stages of processing including proposals referred to technical agencies for
comments, proposals cleared by Project Screening Committee (PSC) but yet to go to
Project Approval Committee (PAC) etc.
A large number of special project proposals under SGSY are received from the
State Governments for sanction. Since they are large rural livelihoods projects whose
cost can go up to a maximum of Rs. 15 crore, such proposals are first scrutinized for
their compliance with the guidelines of Special Projects under SGSY, mainly relating to
focus on BPL beneficiaries, viability and sustainability of projects, commitment for
25% matching share of project cost by the State Governments, inclusion of credit
component, etc. Projects that do not fulfill these requirements are returned to the
concerned State Governments. The State Governments keep on revising, restructuring
and resubmitting such proposals. The proposals, wherever necessary, are also sent for
obtaining technical comments of the concerned Central Government
Departments/agencies. The project proposals which comply with the basic parameters
of the guidelines are then appraised through two Inter-Ministerial Committees for
screening and approval. The projects are first examined and screened by the Project
Screening Committee (PSC) headed by Joint Secretary (SGSY) with members from the
Internal Finance Division and the Planning Commission. The projects cleared by PSC
are finally considered and approved by the Project Approval Committee headed by
Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, with Additional Secretary and Financial
Adviser, Ministry of Rural Development, Advisor (Rural Development), Planning
Commission and Joint Secretary (SGSY) as members. Receipt of project proposals,
their revision by the sponsoring State Governments and their appraisal and approval
through the above two tier Inter Ministerial Committees is a continuous process. Since
appraisal and approval /clearance of these proposals is a continuous process and depend
on various factors like their fulfilling the prescribed guidelines, economic viability of
the proposals, BPL focus of projects, etc., no time frame can be indicated for final
approval of these project proposals.
