Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

The Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is a significant initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 11, 2014. It aims to develop model villages through the holistic development of Gram Panchayats. The scheme’s objective is to empower villagers by providing them with tools and opportunities to drive their development, focusing on social, cultural, and infrastructural growth.

Launched on the birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan and inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Gram Swaraj, SAGY fosters values like national pride, community spirit, and self-confidence among rural populations while improving their access to basic amenities and livelihood opportunities.

Feature	Description
Name of the Yojana	Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
Official Website	Website
Beneficiaries	Villagers in identified Gram Panchayats
Registration Process	Offline mode
Initiated By	Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Yojana Overview	Develop model villages with holistic growth.

Registration Process

The registration process for Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is primarily managed offline. Members of Parliament (MPs) identify suitable Gram Panchayats from rural areas, excluding their own or their spouse’s village. Lok Sabha MPs choose a Gram Panchayat from within their constituency, while Rajya Sabha MPs select one from their state. The MPs then develop a village development plan in consultation with the local community, leveraging scientific tools and existing resources to guide the holistic development of the identified Gram Panchayat.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for selection under SAGY, the following criteria must be met:

• The basic unit should be a Gram Panchayat.
• The village should have a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal, and difficult areas. If such units are not available, approximations are considered.
• MPs must identify a Gram Panchayat from rural areas of any district, excluding their own village or that of their spouse.
• Once selected, Gram Panchayats remain part of SAGY regardless of changes in MPs.
• The goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams by March 2019, with one achieved by 2016, and subsequently five more by 2024.

Required Documents

The required documents for the selection and development process under SAGY include:

• Gram Panchayat resolution.
• Baseline survey reports.
• Development plans outlining the village’s needs and proposed interventions.
• Additional documentation may be required for specific project proposals or resource mobilization plans.

Objectives of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

The primary objectives of SAGY are:

• To trigger processes that lead to the holistic development of identified Gram Panchayats.
• To improve the standard of living and quality of life through enhanced basic amenities, higher productivity, and better livelihood opportunities.
• To reduce disparities and ensure access to rights and entitlements.
• To foster social mobilization and enriched social capital.
• To generate models of local-level development and effective local government that can inspire neighboring Gram Panchayats.

Implementation Process

The implementation of SAGY involves a structured process spearheaded by Members of Parliament (MPs):

1. Environment Creation and Social Mobilization: MPs work with local leaders to create an environment conducive to development and mobilize the community.
2. Participatory Development Planning: MPs, along with local stakeholders, develop a vision for the holistic development of the village.
3. Resource Convergence: Central and state schemes converge resources to effectively implement SAGY, ensuring comprehensive development.
4. Community Participation: Involving local self-government institutions and community members is crucial for successful implementation.

Entry Point Activities

Initial activities under SAGY include:

1. Environment Creation and Social Mobilization: MPs and local leaders work together to create an environment conducive to development and mobilize the community.
2. Collective Vision Development: Developing a shared vision for the village, fostering enthusiasm among villagers, and ensuring active participation in the planning process.
3. Situation Analysis: Identifying local needs, constraints, and resources, and setting benchmarks for improvements in various development areas.

Major Outcomes

Expected outcomes of SAGY include:

1. Increased Livelihood Opportunities: Enhanced employment prospects for villagers.
2. Reduction in Distress Migration: Decreasing the need for villagers to migrate for work.
3. Freedom from Bonded Labor and Child Labor: Eradicating bonded labor, child labor, and manual scavenging.
4. Complete Registration of Births and Deaths: Ensuring 100% registration of births and deaths.
5. Promotion of Peace and Harmony: Fostering peace and harmony within the village.
6. Demonstration Effect: Showcasing the potential for replication of successful development models in other Gram Panchayats.

Benefits of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

Activities

The elements of an Adarsh Gram are context-specific but broadly include:

1. Personal Development: Inculcating hygienic behavior, fostering healthy habits, and reducing risk behaviors like alcoholism and smoking.
2. Social Development: Promoting voluntarism, building community capacity, honoring local role models, and promoting crime-free villages.
3. Human Development: Ensuring access to basic health facilities, immunization, balanced sex ratio, 100% institutional deliveries, and special focus on nutrition and education.
4. Economic Development: Promoting diversified agricultural livelihoods, rural industrialization, skill development, and village tourism.
5. Environmental Development: Activities for a clean and green village, tree plantations, watershed management, and reducing pollution.
6. Social Security: Pensions, insurance schemes, health insurance, and universal access to PDS.
7. Basic Amenities and Services: Pucca houses, drinking water, roads, electricity, public infrastructure, village markets, and connectivity.
8. Good Governance: Strengthening local democracy, e-governance, UIDAI cards, regular staff attendance, timely service delivery, active Gram Sabhas, and proactive information disclosure.

Personal Development

1. Inculcating hygienic behavior and practices.
2. Fostering healthy habits, including daily exercise and games.
3. Reducing risk behaviors like alcoholism, smoking, and substance abuse.

Human Development

1. Universal access to basic health facilities.
2. Total immunization.
3. Balancing the sex-ratio.
4. 100% institutional delivery.
5. Improving nutrition status for all, especially for children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
6. Focus on the special needs of Persons with Disability (PWD), especially children and women.
7. Universal access to education facilities up to Class X and retention.
8. Conversion of schools into ‘smart schools’ with IT-enabled classrooms, e-libraries, and web-based teaching.
9. Adult literacy.
10. E-literacy.
11. Village libraries including e-libraries.

Social Development

1. Promotion of voluntarism like Bharat Nirman Volunteers.
2. Building the capacity of people to participate in local development.
3. Honoring village elders, local role models, freedom fighters, and martyrs.
4. Activities for violence and crime-free villages, such as setting up Citizen Committees and sensitization, especially in youth.
5. Village sports and folk arts festivals.
6. Having a village song to instill a sense of pride among people.
7. Celebrating ‘Village Day’.
8. Proactive steps for inclusion and integration of socially excluded groups, especially Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Economic Development

1. Promoting diversified agricultural and allied livelihoods, including organic farming, soil health cards, crop intensification, seed banks, and livestock development.
2. Micro-irrigation and agro-service centers.
3. Rural industrialization through post-harvest technology applications, micro-enterprises, dairy development, food processing, traditional industries, and skill development.
4. Village tourism, including eco-tourism.

Environmental Development

1. Activities for a clean and green village, such as providing toilets, solid and liquid waste management, roadside plantations, and tree plantations.
2. Watershed management, renovation of traditional water bodies, and rainwater harvesting.
3. Reducing local pollution of air, water, and land.

Basic Amenities and Services

1. Pucca houses for all houseless poor.
2. Drinking water, preferably treated piped water with household taps.
3. Internal all-weather roads with covered drains.
4. Electricity connection to all households and street lights.
5. Public infrastructure for Anganwadis, schools, health institutions, Gram Panchayat offices, and libraries.
6. Civic infrastructure, including community halls, buildings for SHG federations, playgrounds, and burial grounds/crematoria.
7. Village markets.
8. Infrastructure for PDS outlets.
9. Micro-mini banks/post offices/ATMs.
10. Broadband connectivity and Common Service Centres.
11. Telecom connectivity.
12. CCTVs in public places.

Social Security

1. Pensions for all eligible families: old age, disability, and widow.
2. Insurance schemes like Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana.
3. Health insurance: RSBY.
4. PDS: universal access to all eligible households.

Good Governance

1. Strengthening local democracy through strong and accountable Gram Panchayats and active Gram Sabhas.
2. E-governance for better service delivery.
3. Provision of UIDAI cards to all.
4. Ensuring regular and punctual attendance of government and panchayat staff.
5. Time-bound service delivery in line with the Department’s Citizens Charter.
6. Holding Mahila Gram Sabhas before every Gram Sabha.
7. Holding a Gram Sabha at least four times a year.
8. Holding Bal Sabhas every quarter.
9. Proactive disclosure of all information pertaining to the implementation of the program in the public domain and through wall-writing and notice boards in the local language.
10. Timely redressal of grievances filed by people.

Use of Technology and Innovation in SAGY

1. Space application and remote sensing.
2. Mobile-based technology.
3. Agriculture-related technology and innovations.
4. Livelihood-related technologies and innovations.
5. Appropriate building construction technologies.
6. Road construction technologies.
7. Water supply and sanitation-related technologies.

Features of this Yojana

The features of SAGY include:

• Demand-driven and inspired by societal needs.
• Emphasis on people’s participation and community-driven development.
• Utilization of scientific tools and data for village development plans.
• Focus on holistic development encompassing social, economic, and environmental aspects.