A strategic focus on micro welfare ensuring ease of living and foundational infrastructure in rural India
The Union Budget 2022-23 has created a green and sustainable approach for economic growth, as well as a plan to achieve macro level growth with a focus on micro welfare.India isin a strong position to leave the challenges of pandemic behind and prepare rural India for rapid strides. The 2022-23 Budget focuses on strengthening the rural economy and providing livelihoods to the rural poor. The budget assures access to livelihood, basicInfrastructure and climate resilience with focus on housing, agriculture, healthcare, multimodal connectivity and expansion of road and digital infoway in rural areas.
Central to realisation of the Prime Minister’s vision for ease of living and leaving no citizen behind in rural areas is universalisation of quality livelihoods. In line with this vision, the Budget lays an ambitious foundation for India@100 with an unprecedented focus on building economic enablers like infrastructure, digital connectivity -additional allocations include Rs. 1 lakh crore for capital expenditure which includes supplemental for PM Gram Sadak Yojana, Vibrant Villages Programme in Border areas, affordable broadband and mobile service proliferation, digitisation of land records. Har GharNal Se Jal, PM AwasYojana, Har Ghar Ujjwala, Saubhagya, has changed village life for better. Together with funds available under 15th Finance Commission of Rs 1.42 lakh crore grant to Panchayats for water and sanitation and Rs 70,000 crore for development of frontline health infrastructure, this is an unprecedented push for quality of life which will alsoenable Gram Panchayats to function as local ‘public utilities’ with a focus on ‘service delivery’.
The Ministry of Rural Development has set an ambitious target 2.5 crore livelihoods in next 3 years. In 2022-23, the Rural Development Department has been allocated Rs 1,35,944 crore, with demand-responsive supplemental allocation in MGNREGS. DAY-NRLM leverages the strength of the community collectives for capacitating women members to take livelihoods activities that adds on to their family income, along with NSAP, DDGKUY - Ministry is in a good position to eliminate poverty through promotion of diversified and gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunitiesmuch before SDG targets of 2030.
The pandemic has seen emergence of a new governance coalition of Panchayats and women collectives, we have taken measures for integration of livelihood planning process with Panchayat planning mutually strengthening both and ensuring inclusion of all households particularly the most vulnerable. The Government has doubled collateral free loans for SHGs from Rs 10 lakh to 20 lakh, now the Government is also planning to ensure that the SHGs get such loans to strengthen their activities without any hassles. The new and more challenging area of work would be credit mobilisation for the SHG members taking up enterprises. At present DAY-NRLM provides women members of self-help group access to capital through grants to the women’s institutions from the mission as well as credit from the financial institutions. In addition, recent efforts at convergence have resulted in assets support from MGNREGS, skills/technology support under DDGKUY, support through PMFME and various government schemes that could enable members of SHGs to livelihood intensification.
Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana& Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) will also make a huge difference and expedite rural development as the Budget 2022-23 brings them under focus.The scheme allocation has been increased by 64%, convergence with MGNREGS will ensure climate adaptive future livelihoods. DILRMP is a part of the Digital India initiative. Major components of the programme include: (i) computerisation of all existing land records, (ii) digitisation of maps, (iii) survey/re-survey, and updating of all settlement records, and (iv) computerisation of the registration process and its integration with the land records maintenance system.
The Government has identified that scaling up structured social development efforts under DAY-NRLM through the community institutions are immensely important and bringing awareness and access to services related to nutrition, health, sanitation, and gender issues under focusto ensure quality of life for the SHG women as these are important for curtailing expenditures on health. The Ministry now has adopted a Whole of Rural Development (WRD) approach to target supporting additional livelihoods activities, integrated approach would entail a seamless matching of the supply of livelihoods schemes and programs from Governments - Centre and State - skills, assets, services and resources available with the demands of the community.
Fortunately, most of the above architecture is ready, as a component of the broader anti-poverty strategy.
(The writer is Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. The views expressed are personal.)