Govt's flagship development programmes fail to meet targets

After a good performance in 2005-06, the rural development ministry has failed to meet the targets set under its flagship programmes in the first nine months of 2006-07.

The projections of the Outcome Budget for 2007-08 show that while the four flagship programmes were able to achieve more than the targets set for 2005-06, in the subsequent year, three of the same four programmes are lagging in performance.

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), meant to provide sustainable self-employment to the rural poor, is the only programme which showed a consistently good performance in both the years.

In SGSY, the Outcome Budget document shows that in 2005-06, 0.79 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) were financially assisted, which is more than the 0.53 lakh SHGs set as the target to be covered. Further, while 8.59 lakh 'swarozgaris' were to be given financial assistance, SGSY claims to have reached out to 11.49 lakh swarozgaris in the same year.

Even in 2006-07, in the first nine months itself, SGSY was able to cover 0.47 lakh of the 0.77 lakh SHGs and 6.39 lakh of the 10.91 lakh swarozgaris set as targets for the year.

But in the case of Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), started with the objective to generate additional wage employment to the poor while creating durable community and social and economic infrastructure in rural areas, only 82.18 crore mandays of work was provided against the set target of 86.11 crore mandays.

Conceding a shortfall of about four crore mandays, the document says that the year also witnessed a decrease in the availability of foodgrains under SGRY. "Only 37.30 lakh million tonne foodgrains was made available as against a requirement of 50 lakh million tonnes."

Food Corporation of India (FCI) is entrusted with the responsibility of providing the necessary foodgrain to the concerned District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs), who monitor and distribute the grains for the wage-cum-food employment programme.

In 2006-07, the first nine months saw only 22 crore mandays of employment being provided, which is much below the 50 per cent of the 50.13 crore-manday target.

While the first quarter target was 10.02 crore mandays, only 2.35 crore mandays of work was provided. However, officials say that quarterly targets are indicative in nature, based on performance during the previous years.

"Moreover, generation of wage employment depends on several factors like selection of labour intensive works, favourable climate for doing earthwork and availability of men and material," they said.

Under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), a programme that envisages the provision of proper shelter to millions of the rural BPL families, it is shown that 15.52 lakh houses were constructed in 2005-06 as against the planned 14.41 lakh households, thereby exceeding the target by more than a lakh houses.

But in 2006-07, even in IAY, the performance came down. As against the set target of 15.33 lakh houses to be constructed, only 7.61 lakh houses were constructed in the first nine months. But the officials said that of the 15.33 lakh houses, 6.37 lakh are to be constructed in the fourth quarter period from January to March 2007.

Another reason for the shortage is the non-preparation of permanent IAY lists by the states, which led to a delay in the release of funds.

"Funds were released subsequently, but the stipulation that the beneficiaries would be selected only out of the permanent IAY wait lists resulted in delay in selection of beneficiaries," the document said. "This shortfall would to be made up during the fourth quarter and the targets fixed will be achieved," an official concerned said.

Finally, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), which forms part of the Bharat Nirman vision of the UPA government along with IAY, also projected a good show in 2005-06.

PMGSY, which aims at providing improved access to healthcare, educational facilities and market for the agricultural produce through construction of proper roads, was able to provide roads to 8,031 habitations in 2005-06, while the target was 7,895 habitations.

In terms of total length, 22,785 km road connectivity provided in rural areas, while the target set was only 17,454 km, thereby pegging the achievement at 30 per cent more than what was targeted.

But in 2006-07, the retarded performance repeated in PMGSY also. In the first three quarters, the programme was able to cover only 4,044 habitations against a target of 9,435 habitations. Further, only 15,482 km of road connectivity was provided as against the target of 27,250 km in the same period.

Limited institutional and contractual capacity in the states, non-availability of land and unfavourable weather conditions were responsible for the diminished performance in PMGSY last year.

The Outcome Budget also states that reports were received from just 12 states for the month of December 2006, which also reflects in the outcome figures of PMGSY.

Though the document shows the Department of Rural Development to be lagging in implementation of programmes in the first nine months of 2006-07, officials in the ministry told Business Standard that these programmes must have met the targets by the year-ending time of March 31, 2007.

Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said the programmes were running according to plan. "Compilation of the latest reports from the states would show that the performance is on par with that of the last year," the minister told Business Standard.