FAQ on Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)

 

Ideology of Gram Swaraj of Mahatma Gandhi is the inspiration for Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)

The goal of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is to translate the comprehensive and organic vision of Mahatma Gandhi into reality, keeping in view the present context.

The values that Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) propagates are

i. Adopting people’s participation as an end in itself ensuring the involvement of all sections of society in all aspects related to the life of village, especially in decision making related to governance

ii. Adhering to Antyodaya enabling the “poorest and the weakest person” in the village to achieve well-being

iii. Affirming gender equality and ensuring respect for women

iv. Guaranteeing social justice

v. Instilling dignity of labour and the spirit of community service and voluntarism

vi. Promoting a culture of cleanliness

vii. Living in consonance with nature ensuring a balance between development and ecology

viii.Preserving and promoting local cultural heritage

ix. Inculcating mutual cooperation, self-help and self-reliance

x. Fostering peace and harmony in the village community

xi. Bringing about transparency, accountability and probity in public life

xii. Nurturing local self-governance

xiii Adhering to the values enshrined in the Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties of the Indian Constitution.

The main objectives of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) are

i. To trigger processes which lead to holistic development of the identified Gram Panchayats

ii. To substantially improve the standard of living and quality of life of all sections of the population through

a. improved basic amenities

b. higher productivity

c. enhanced human development

d. better livelihood opportunities

e. reduced disparities

f. access to rights and entitlements

g. wider social mobilization

h. enriched social capital

iii. To generate models of local level development and effective local governance which can motivate and inspire neighbouring Gram Panchayats to learn and adapt

iv. To nurture the identified Adarsh Grams as schools of local development to train other Gram Panchayats

Few challenges related to local level development are

i. Inability to develop a shared vision of development over a longer period

ii. Disconnect between development inputs delivered and the genuine needsof the community

iii. Lack of participation of all sections of society, especially the marginalized and the aged 

iv. Focus on infrastructure and expenditure ignoring the social aspects and sustainable outcomes

v. Reliance primarily on government grants and not emphasising community contributions and self help

vi. Absence of organic convergence of different schemes

vii. Unfair decisions regarding allocation of benefits to locations and households leading to alienation

viii.Political partisanship perceived and real

ix. Disregard of socio-cultural values of different sections of the community

x. Existence of multiple power structures and absence of a reconciling mechanism

xi. Ignoring environmental concerns for immediate gains

xii. Prevalence of social evils like drinking, dowry, casteism, communalism and discrimination against women

SAGY would be guided by the following approach:

i. Leveraging the leadership, capacity, commitment and energy of the Members of Parliament (MP) to develop model Gram Panchayats.

ii. Engaging with and mobilizing the community for participatory local level development.

iii. Converging different government programmes, private and voluntary initiatives to achieve comprehensive development in tune with people’s aspirations and local potential.

iv. Building partnerships with voluntary organisations, co-operatives and academic and research institutions.

v. Focusing on outcomes and sustainability

Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) activities should focus on holistic development covering personal development, human development, social development and economic development of the citizens.

The activities that can be taken up under the personal development of the villagers are

i. Inculcating hygienic behaviour and practices

ii. Fostering healthy habits including daily exercise and games

iii. Reducing risk behaviour- alcoholism, smoking, substance abuse, etc.

The activities that can be taken up under the human development of the village are

i. Universal access to basic health facilities consisting of health card, medical examination

ii. Totalimmunization

iii. Balancing the sex-ratio

iv. 100% institutional delivery

v. Improving nutrition status for all, with special focus on children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers

vi. Strong focus on the special needs of Persons With Disability (PWD), especially children and women

vii. Universal access to education facilities up to Class 10″ and retention

viii.cConversion of schools into ‘smart schools’. Smart schools will have IT enabled classrooms, e-libraries, web based teaching and will make all students e-literate required for providing quality education

ix. Adultliteracy

x. E-literacy

xi. Village libraries including e-libraries

The activities that can be taken up under the social development of the village are

i. Activities for promotion of voluntarism like Bharat Nirman Volunteers

ii. Building the capacity of the people to fully participate and contribute to local development

iii. Activities for honouring village elders, local role models especially women, freedom fighters and martyrs 

iv. Activities for violence and crime free villages such as:

a. Setting up Citizen Committees

b. Sensitization, especially of youth

v. Village sports and folk arts festivals

vi. Havinga village song to instil a sense of pride among the people

vii. Celebrating ‘Village Day’

viii.Proactive steps for inclusion and integration of socially excluded groups, especially Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

All the economic activities should focus particularly on lifting households out of poverty, for which organising and federating women SHGs, providing employment to all workers, and bringing about financial inclusion are very important. Few activities that can be taken up under the economic development of the village are:

i. Promoting diversified agricultural and allied livelihoods, including livestock and horticulture, through:

a. Organic farming

b. Soil health cards

c. Crop intensification such as SRI

d. Setting up of seed banks

e. Collection and value addition to Non Timber Forest Produce, Livestock development including Gobar Bank, cattle hostel

f. Livestock development including Gobar Bank, cattle hostel

g. Micro-irrigation

h. Agro-service centres

ii. Ruralindustrialization like:

a. Post-harvest technology applications

b. Micro-enterprises

c. Dairy development and processing

d. Food processing

e. Traditional Industries

iii. Skill Development of all eligible youth for self-employment and placement

iv. Village Tourism including eco-tourism

The activities that can be taken up under environmental development of the village are 

i. Activities fora clean and green village consisting of:

a. Providing toilets in each household and in all public institutions and ensuring their proper use

b. Appropriate solid and liquid waste management

ii. Roadside plantations

iii. Tree plantation in accordance with local preferences in homesteads, schools and public institutions including green walkways

iv. Social forestry

v. Watershed management especially renovation and revival of traditional water bodies

vi. Rainwater harvesting- rooftop as well as others

vii. Reducing local pollution of air, water and land

 

The activities that can be taken up under providing basic amenities and services in the village are

i. Pucca houses for all houseless poor/poor living in kutcha houses

ii. Drinking water, preferably treated piped water with household taps

iii. Internal all weather roads with covered drains

iv. All weather road connectivity to the main road-network

v. Electricity connection to all households and street-lights including from alternative sources of energy, especially solar

vi. Pucca infrastructure for public institutions- Anganwadis, schools, health institutions, Gram Panchayat Office and libraries

vii. Civic infrastructure including community halls, buildings for SHG federations, playgrounds and burial grounds/ crematoria

viii. Village markets

ix. Infrastructure for PDS outlets

x. Micro mini banks /post offices/ATMs

xi. Broadband connectivity and Common Service Centres

xii. Telecom connectivity

xiii. CCTVs in public places

The activities that can be taken up under providing social security measures in the village are

i. Pensions for all eligible families- old age, disability and widow

ii. Insurance schemes like Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana

iii. Health insurance- RSBY

iv. PDS- universal access to all eligible households

The activities that can be taken up to ensure good governance in the village are 

i. Strengthening of local democracy through strong and accountable Gram Panchayats and active Gram Sabhas

ii. E-Governance resulting in better service delivery

iii. Provision of UIDAI cards to all

iv. Ensuring regular and punctual attendance of government and panchayat staff

v. Time bound service delivery in line with Department’s Citizens Charter

vi. Holding of Mahila Gram Sabhas before every Gram Sabha

vii. Holding of aGram Sabha at least 4 times a year

viii. Holding of Bal Sabhas every quarter

ix. Proactive disclosure of all information pertaining to the implementation of the programme in the public domain and through wall-writing, notice boards in the local language. This should necessarily include the list of beneficiaries, item-wise budgets and expenditure.

x. Gram Panchayat acting as an information facilitation centre

xi. Timely redressal of grievances filed by people, such that:

a. Grievances of all nature to be submitted to the Gram Panchayat / Charge Officer and dated receipt to be given 

b. Grievances to be redressed within three weeks along with written reply

c. Institutionalization of regular open platforms for airing of grievances and their redressal, coordinated by the Gram Panchayat 

xii. Half yearly Social Audit of the programme implementation by the Gram Sabha facilitated by the Social Audit Units set up under MGNREGA 

The possible strategies to convert the identified village into an Adarsh Gram are 

a. Entry point activities to energize and mobilize the community towards positive commonaction

b. Participatory planning exercise for identifying peoples’ needs and priorities in an integrated manner

c. Converging resources from Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes and also other State schemes to the extent possible.

d. Repairing and renovating existing infrastructure to the extent possible.

e. Strengthening the Gram Panchayats and peoples’ institutions within them

f. Promoting transparency and accountability

The MP would be free to identify a suitable Gram Panchayat for being developed Adarsh Gram, other than his/her own village or that of his/her spouse. 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.

Gram Panchayat would be the basic unit. It should have a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal and difficult areas. If these sizes are not available, Gram Panchayats of other sizes could be identified as far as possible approximating the laid down sizes of population.

Primarily, the goal is to develop three Gram Panchayats as 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.

A Village Development Plan would be prepared for every identified Gram Panchayat based on the local context, potential and needs and with special focus on enabling every poor household to come out of poverty.

For environment building and social mobilisation the MP himself/herself should involve the Gram Panchayat. Some of the activities which could be considered are:

a. Interaction (charcha) with the Gram Sabha, Mahila Sabha, Bal Sabha

b. Interaction (charcha) with occupational groups and local organisations, including youth clubs

c. Organisation of cultural and sports events

d. Wall writings, Shivirs, Padayatras, Nukkad naataks etc

e. Painting and Literary Competitions on how the village could be made a model one.

f. Demonstration of videos of best practices in village development

Afew suggested activities in the early stages of building Adarsh Gram are 

a. Having the community, including all elected representatives and government functionaries, take a collective pledge that the community will work towards its economic upliftment in a time bound manner so that no family in the village will languish below poverty line.

b. Collectively reading out and reaffirming the fundamental rights and fundamental duties of the Indian Constitution.

c. Organising Health camps

d. Organising cleanliness drives

e. Conducting animal health camps

f. Intervention in Anganwadis to improve attendance and quality of service delivery

g. Intervention in local schools improving attendance, enhancing quality of education, improving the quality of midday meals etc. in partnership with the PTAs.

h. Planting of trees

i. Revitalizing/organising SHGs

j. Organising Rozgar Diwas under MGNREGA

k. Improving Public Distribution System(PDS)

l. Organisation of grievance redressal camps with the participation of the District Collector and key district level officers particularly relating to civil supplies, social welfare, land revenue etc.

Situation Analysis is the first step of the planning process

Situation analysis precedes planning and can be seen as the first step in planning. Situation analysis involves analysing a particular (developmental) problem situation, and in most cases is particularly related to a region. 

 Situation analysis complements specific analysis of a problem, bringing in related frame conditions. It can therefore complement:

– target group analysis (including gender analysis)

–  landuse planning

– Institutional analysis

Situation analysis can be based on analytical/statistical methods of investigation or on participatory methods of appraisal or a mix of methods.

A baseline survey has two purposes. First is to identify details of the existing scenario in different areas of development so that improvements could be suitably bench-marked to this.

Second is to provide basic data on the deficiencies and gaps in infrastructure, amenities and services as well as the potential for future economic and human development.

Participatory Situation Analysis is the process of analysing the situation through the local community involving trained facilitators. The key participatory techniques which could be used are social map, resource map and needs matrix.

Social Map: It is a map, drawn by the local persons, particularly women, depicting households according to different categories, important institutions, physical and social infrastructure and other amenities.

Resource mapping helps to understand the natural and physical resources at the command of the village. This is also prepared by the local people and the map would show the following:

• Landuse

• Water bodies

• Irrigation structures

• Physical layout of the land showing slopes, undulations, drainage patterns etc

The Resource Map would delineate the micro-watersheds and help identify the potential for agricultural development and natural resources management.

Needs matrix is prepared with the involvement of a cross-section of the local households to rationally assess the collective needs of the village and their priorities.

The data collected through the situation analysis should be captured on a GIS platform.

Review of situation analysis will be an exercise led by the MP jointly with the District Collector, the Gram Panchayat, and the community, to critically assess the performance that is, what the village has been able to achieve on its own and what it will definitely be able to complete in a reasonable period of time.

The second stage in planning is the Strategy Setting.

Based on the review of the first stage, and data from the baseline survey and the participatory assessments, a select group of stakeholders, officials and experts could suggest the strategies for development and the activities needed to operationalise the strategies. In other words, the schemes and projects required would be outlined.

The resources available for the development of Gram Panchayats will be mapped. Broadly, they could be classified as follows:

i. Resources of fully tied schemes centrally sponsored and State- such as IAY, PMGSY etc

ii. Resources which are partially tied and permit flexibility of use like MGNREGS, RKVY, NRLM, NHM, SSA etc.

iii. Resources which are largely untied such as BRGF, MPLADS etc which permit a great deal of flexibility to fill in critical gaps as required. Local Area Development Scheme of MLAs may also be tapped, subject to their consent.

iv. Purely untied resources of the Gram Panchayats like own revenue, Central and State Finance Commission grants etc

v. Resources which could be mobilised locally in cash, kind and labour

vi. CSR funds.

The above categories of resources should be used in a convergent and integrated manner to generate maximum synergy. In respect of Central Sector/Centrally Sponsored Schemes/programmes, the Ministries/Departments concerned will take appropriate action to make suitable changes in the guidelines to enable priority to be given to the Adarsh Gram.

All the categories of resources should be used in a convergent and integrated manner to generate maximum synergy.

Finalisation of the needs is done through a two part process: the first part being consultations with the different stakeholders particularly women SHGs and farmer groups and the second part being the Gram Sabha discussions. In these fora, the summary of the results of the exercises done will be presented in a

simple and clear manner and the needs and priorities finalised as normatively and unanimously as possible.

A Working Group will be set up by the District Collector consisting of officials and outside professionals/experts to draw up the draft Village Development Plan on the basis of the needs prioritized by the people. The VDP includes the activities, contributions and should state the expected outputs and outcomes along with the timelines.

The draft VDP will be presented to the Gram Sabha for discussion and clearance.

The Approval for VDP of Adarsh Gram will be done by the District level committee headed by the District Collector, in the presence of the MP duly considering his/her comments and suggestions. In these meetings of the District level committee, heads of concerned Gram Panchayats will also be invited. While approving the VDP, the committee will clearly indicate the phasing of different components with specific targets for three months, six months, nine months, one year and beyond.

 

The components of the approved plan should thereafter be projectised by the departmental officers concerned, who should then get the administrative, financial and technical approvals as may be necessary under the guidelines of the respective scheme. The District Collector will personally coordinate this exercise to make it smooth and time-bound. He will be assisted by the Charge Officer.

The details of all the processes and all the components of the approved plan covering the physical and financial aspects and the expected outputs and outcomes should be pro-actively disclosed and disseminated widely.

 

The suggested Time- lines to be followed for Adarsh Gram Programme are:-

Item of Work – Time from the date of launch (cumulative)

Selection of Gram panchayat – One month

Awareness generation on the scheme – Two months

Environment creation and social mobilization – Three months

Initialisation of First Stage activities – Three months

Review of First Stage activities – Five months

Completion of preparation of VDP – Seven months

Completion of preparation of 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

 

The following are the roles of Member of Parliament in SAGY

• Identify and select the Gram Panchayat to develop as Adarsh Gram

• Engage with the community in the village and motivate them to take up development activities on their own according to their capacity

• Propagate the values of the scheme

• Initiate start-up activities to build up the right environment

• Facilitate the planning process

• Mobilise additional resources to the extent possible, particularly from CSR and philanthropies

• Fillup critical gapsin the plan using MPLADs funds

• Monitor the progress periodically and take the lead in sorting out issues and problems

• Proactively facilitate transparency and accountability in the programme implementation and help sort out public grievances

• Coordinate with the community to achieve the desired, non-tangible outcomes, particularly the social ones

At the national level, the nodal ministry for implementing this scheme will be the Ministry of Rural Development. For overseeing the implementation, there will be two national level committees. One will be headed by the Minister for Rural Development with the participation of the Ministers in charge of

Planning, Programme Implementation and other key ministries as may be decided and also 6-8 members of Parliament from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha onarotation basis.

The second committee will be headed by the Secretary of Rural Development with representatives from the following ministries/departments not below the rank of Joint Secretary:

• Panchayati Raj

• Planning

• Land Resources

• Womenand Child Development

• Health and Family Welfare

• School Education

• Micro, Smalland Medium Enterprises

• Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation

• Power

• Newand Renewable Energy

• Telecom

• Information Technology

• Waterresources

• Social Justice and empowerment

• Tribal Affairs

• Environment, Forests and Climate Change

• Agriculture

• Sports and Youth Affairs

• Other relevant ministries

The committee may co-opt experts in the key thematic areas of this scheme. It would be assisted by a small, focused, high impact secretariat comprising of three resource persons on contract.

The tasks of the Committee would be to:

• Monitor the process of identification and planning

• Review the implementation of the scheme

• Decide mechanism for concurrent monitoring and post project evaluation for which a web-based monitoring system will be developed, laying down standardised monitoring practices across states.

• Identify bottlenecks and problems, and initiate remedial action where necessary- including changes of the guidelines of this Scheme.

• Indicate specific resource support that each ministry will provide to build capacity across states

• Promote cross learning across States

• Disseminate best practices in village level development including through video and print

• Issue operational guidelines and advisories from time to time which may be item specific or pertaining to the scheme in general

There has to be an Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary consisting of the relevant Departments and including experts as required, with at least two civil society representatives. The Secretary of the Rural Development Department of the State will be the member-convenor. Two full time resource persons on contract may be deployed to support the work of this state level committee.

The committee will meet at least once a quarter and perform the following tasks:

• Supplement the central SAGY guidelines and issue state specific instructions which take into account different state schemes. These must lay out the roles and responsibilities of functionaries at the GP, block,district and state level.

• Review Village Development Plans from across constituencies and suggest changes, if required to ensure that the key outputs are achieved within the stipulated timelines

• Review implementation and lay down monitoring mechanisms supplementary to the web-based monitoring system.

• Identify bottlenecks, and the technical and administrative support required and issue necessary instructions/ Government Orders from time to time.

• Coordinate with the committees at the national level as required 

• Develop a time table for exposure visits to the model villages and design a state level plan for dissemination of best practices

• Design a grievance redressal mechanism for the scheme which will be put in place at the level of the Charge Officer and the district in accordance with scheme guidelines

• This Committee may interact with MPs, if necessary in small groups, to identify problems and sort them out.

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.

The District 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 ofthe 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.

i. Space applications and remote sensing: This will be used in the planning and monitoring of the programmes. Assets will also be mapped using GIS. The State remote sensing agencies would provide necessary support.

ii. Mobile based technologies – These are essentially for monitoring the programmes through geo-tagging. The NIC would provide the necessary modules and the support.

iii. Agriculture related technologies and innovations – These could improve productivity and add value to be sourced from the local Krishi Vigyan Kendra and the District ATMA.

iv. Livelihood related technologies and innovations-These could be sourced from the National Innovation Foundation and the Bank of Ideas and Innovations set up by the Ministry through the State Rural Livelihood Missions.

v. Appropriate building construction technologies -These would be developed using expert organisations which work with local material and local designs. The Ministry of Rural Development and Rural Housing Knowledge Network of IIT Delhi would provide the necessary back-up.

vi. Road construction technologies This would be made available by The National Roads Development Agency of the Ministry of Rural Development.

vii. Water supply and sanitation related technologies – The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation would provide the technologies that are cost efficient and innovative.

The Ministry of Rural Development would prepare a compendium of relevant technologies and innovations and carry out a dissemination exercise specially aimed at Adarsh Grams.

In the Implementation of SAGY private, voluntary and cooperative sectors which could help in:

• Providing technical assistance in planning and monitoring

• Making available relevant technologies for local adoptions

• Making investments/providing services for local economic development, either independently or to supplement Government efforts through:

1. Training and capacity building local functionaries

2. Skilling local youth to improve Employability

3. Providing market linkages to local products through standardization, quality assurance etc

4. Mentoring for personal and social development

Specially designed capacity building programme to be done by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD & PR), Hyderabad through the SIRDs at the State level.

The Ministry of Rural Development would:

i. Prepare detailed handbooks for operationalising the different components for the stakeholders.

ii. Document and disseminate best practices related to innovative village development.

iii, Set upahelp-desk in the NIRD & PR to serve asa single point for clarification of doubts and for giving advice where necessary.

iv. Identify the best performing Gram Panchayats for peer-group learning through twinning arrangements.

The expected outcomes of SAGY would be the following:

• Increased livelihoods/employment opportunities

• Reduction in distress migration

• Freedom from bonded labour, child labour and manual scavenging

• 100% registration of deaths and births

• Evolution of alternate dispute resolution system acceptable to all sections of the community

• Peace and Harmony

• Demonstration effect on other Gram Panchayats

At the national level, a separate, real time web based monitoring system will be put in place for the scheme covering all aspects and components. The system would have the interface enabling the MP and other key stakeholders to log-in and give suggestions/comments, and even raise queries or complaints, which should be promptly responded to by the implementing authorities.

Every process taken under this programme, will be photographed and geo-tagged and made available in public domain. Similarly, photographs of all assets at different stages would be uploaded.

The outputs under each activity would be measured every quarter vis-a-vis the physical and financial targets set out in the Village Development Plan. Further, the core monitorable indicators of the 12th Five Year Plan would be utilised as appropriate. The outcomes will also be tracked from time to time to the extent possible.

A mid-term evaluation of performance would be conducted through a competent independent agency. Also a post-project assessment of performance and outcomes would be similarly undertaken.

The incentives are in the form of Awards and they are proposed to be given in the following categories:

i. Best practices

ii. Best Charge Officers

iii. Best District Collectors

iv. Best Adarsh Grams

Post project sustainability is expected to be achieved through the following:

• Continuing leadership and guidance of the MP 

• Strong ownership and leadership of the Gram Panchayat and the village community with role clarity on operation and maintenance of the assets created under the programme.

• Involvement of the private sector in operation and maintenance of bigger assets like sewerage and large water supply schemes.

• Involvement of SHGs in the operation and maintenance of smaller community assets like vermin compost systems, small water supply schemes, nutrition centres, citizen service centres, libraries etc.

• Clear protocols in respect of departmental responsibilities in operation and maintenance to be laid down and agreed upon, upfront at the time of approval of projects under the Plan.

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