General Knowledge / Rural Welfare Programmes

The Ministry of Rural Development, a branch of the Government of India, is entrusted with the task of accelerating the socio-economic development of rural India. Its focus is on health, education, drinking water, housing and roads.

On 5 July 2016, during the second cabinet reshuffle of the Narendra Modi ministry, Narendra Singh Tomar replaced Chaudhary Birender Singh as the Minister of Rural Development.

Departments
The ministry has two departments:
1. Department of Rural Development.
2. Department of Land Resources.

Each is headed by a senior civil servant designated as the Secretary of the Department. Anita Choudhry is the secretary of Land Resources and Jugal Kishore Mahapatra, a senior bureaucrat from Odisha, is the secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development.

Department of Rural Development
The department run 3 national-level schemes:
1. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for rural roads development,
2. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) rural employment and for rural housing,
3. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana It handles the administration of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), and has three autonomous organisations under it:
Council of Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART)
National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD)
National Rural Road Development Agency (NRRDA)

The Minister of Rural Development is the Chairman of these three organisations and the Secretary of the Ministry is the Vice Chairman. The Minister is currently Mr Narendra Singh Tomar, and the Secretary is Subrahmanyam Vijay Kumar.

Department of Land Resources
The Department of Land Resources runs three national-level programs:
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (Watershed Development Component)
Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme
Neeranchal National Watershed Project
Other Programmes
GIZ led pilot Land Use Planning and Management Project
Ease of Doing Business - Initiatives

Ministers
C. P. Joshi
Vilasrao Deshmukh (19 January 2011 – 12 July 2011)
Jairam Ramesh (13 July 2011 – 26 May 2014)
Gopinath Munde (26 May 2014 – 3 June 2014)
Nitin Gadkari (4 June 2014 – 9 November 2014)
Birender Singh (9 November 2014 – 5 July 2016)
Narendra Singh Tomar (5 July 2016 - Present)

Ministers of State
Niranjan Jyoti (31 May 2019)

Status of DRDAs in the States
S. No State / U.T Status of DRDA
1 Andhra Pradesh DRDAs are separate; Collector is the Executive Chairperson though ZP President is made the Chairperson; large number and scope of parallel bodies across layers
2 Arunachal Pradesh DRDAs are separate
3 Assam DRDA separate; Deputy Commissioner is Chair and Ex Director; many parallel bodies
4 Bihar DRDA separate; ZP Chairman is Chairman of DRDA; many other parallel bodies;
5 Chhattisgarh Reportedly DRDA merged; practically only the ZP Chairman is made the Chairman of DRDA;
6 Goa DRDAs are separate;
7 Gujarat DRDA separate; District Development Officer is the Chairman;
8 Haryana DRDAs separate; ZP Chairman is the Chairman of DRDA and Dy Commissioner/ Collector is the Executive Chairman of DRDA
9 Himachal Pradesh DRDAs separate; ZP chairman is the chairman of DRDA; there are many other parallel bodies
10 Jammu & Kashmir DRDAs separate; the DRDA administration is being refurbished, which by itself could be a very positive step; Panchayat at district level is called the District Planning & Development Board – in a way combining the ZP and DPC
11 Jharkhand DRDAs separate; Dy Commissioner is Chairperson of DRDA
12 Karnataka DRDA merged with ZP since 1987; functions as a unit of ZP office with distinctiveness maintained only to facilitate transactions with the MoRD, New Delhi
13 Kerala DRDAs merged with ZP, function as poverty alleviation cell of the ZP; some parallel bodies (Freshwater Fish Development Agency, Brackishwater Fish Development Agency) still function as per the directions of GoI. The MLA-LDF is also outside the purview and is sort of a parallel body.
14 Madhya Pradesh DRDAs separate; ZP Chairman is the Chairman of DRDA Many parallel bodies, particularly those funded by multilateral and bilateral agencies and operated by the State Government as para-statal entities; DPIP and MPRLP are two examples.
15 Maharashtra DRDA separate, ZP Chairman has a cosmetic position of being Chairman of Governing Body of DRDA with the CEO being the executive chairman of the Management Committee
16 Manipur DRDA separate; Adhyaksha,Zilla Parishad, as the Head/Chairman; Many parallel bodies primarily associated with the Development programmes/ schemes of the Union Government.
17 Odisha DRDA separate; PD – DRDA is designated as the Secretary-cum- Executive officer of ZP; ZP President is the Chair of DRDA
18 Punjab DRDAs separate; ZP Chairman is made the Chairman and it is said that all Panchayats have access to the expertise of DRDA; there are other parallel bodies at district and village levels (Village Water and Sanitation Committees, Village Education Committees), with no linkage with Panchayats
19 Rajasthan DRDA reportedly merged in 2003; however there are para-statals set up through multilateral funding as well as schemes of State and Union government
20 Sikkim DRDA is separate
21 Tamil Nadu DRDA separate institution; Chaired by the District Collector; many parallel bodies like in village education committee, watershed Associations, village forests committees exists.
22 Tripura DRDA exists separately; President of ZP is the Chairman of DRDA
23 Uttar Pradesh DRDAs separate; Chaired by the District Magistrate(DM) and managed by Chief Development Officer(CDO) headed by ZP President; there are a few other parallel bodies
24 Uttarakhand DRDA separate; ZP President is its chair; Van Panchayats, Village Education Committees are the other parallel bodies
25 West Bengal DRDA merged; rechristened as DRDC of ZP;
26 Andaman & Nicobar DRDA is separate; Out of three, only one ZP President is the Chair of DRDA;
27 Chandigarh No DRDA
28 Dadra & Nagar Haveli DRDA is separate
29 Daman & Diu DRDA continues to function as a separate body and have not been merged.
30 Lakshadweep DRDA is said to be merged; ZP President is the Chair; DRDA providing support to the ZP; other parallel bodies relate to Central schemes such at the SSA;
31 Pondicherry DRDA is separate; Attempts are made to link other parallel bodies with Panchayats;


National Rural Employment Generation Scheme(NREGS)
It is an employment scheme in India for providing 100 days guaranteed wage employment for all employment seekers above 18 years of age and willing to do work. The scheme came into force on 5 September 2005 in 199 districts in India and extended to another 130 districts later.



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