Rural India has been the cynosure of the United Progressive Alliance government since its first term and it continues to be so in its second. With most of the flagship schemes catering to the development of rural society and economy, every Union Budget of the UPA gave high priority to rural India.
As the first phase of Bharat Nirman, a flagship scheme, draws to a close, the targets achieved in its six components provide a disappointing picture, even as allocations were raised each year. The scheme is a comprehensive one, covering rural housing, roads, electrification, telephone connectivity, drinking water and irrigation.
The allocations for most components saw an increase in allocations in the previous budget, with the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) getting a 51 per cent rise in 2009-10. Those for rural drinking water and rural electrification also saw increases of 8.2 per cent and 27.6 per cent, respectively. Overall, the allocation for Bharat Nirman was beefed by 19 per cent, even as the government was suffering from fiscal constraints last year.
Even so, the targets achieved have been disappointing. In the current year, the performance under Indira Awas Yojna (IAY) suffered, with only 52.3 per cent of the targets met by December; in 2008-09, it hadachieved all its targets. As for the PMGSY, it had achieved only 12.6 per cent of its targets till November 2009; in 2008-09, it had achieved 63 per cent of the benchmarks.
The rural electrification scheme, the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGVY), also paints a disappointing picture. The targets were for covering three categories: ‘slipped back’ electrified villages (meaning those which were given conections at some stagebut have since lapsed), unelectrified villages abd below-poverty-line (BPL) households. Of the 2009-10 target for these three, the percentage coverage had been respectively 7, 10 and 15 till October, when half the financial year was over.
So, too, for drinking water; it suffers from the highest amount of slippages among all the Bharat Nirman components. Even as more and more villages are being provided drinking water every year, so are the numbers rising of those slipping back to being dry or having problems in the quality of supply. When the scheme began in 2005, covering ‘slipped back’ habitations constituted 63 per cent of the target over the ne4xt five years, till March 2010. Quality-affected ones constituted 26 per cent of the five-year target and uncovered or ‘dry’ villages constituted 10 per cent. Government data revealed that as of September 2009, the share of slipped back habitations in the allocations had risen to 88 per cent, with those for quality-affected habitations being another 10 per cent. The share of uncovered habitations was only 2.1 per cent.
Irrigation was brought under Bharat Nirman in 2006. The target was to cover an additional 10 million hectares till 2010. The achievement, as of November 2009, was 73.4 per cent of this. In last year’s budget, irrigation’s allocation rose by 67 per cent.
There is a general problem, through the entire programme, in addition to slippages in targets, of sustainability and maintenance of the assets created. The situation is similar in the housing scheme. On paper, all the targets had been met. So, too, for rural roads, with many admitting that the first rains washes off much of the effort.
| FALLING SHORT | ||||||
| Target 2008-09 | Achievement 2008-09 | % achievement | Target 2009-10 | Achievement 2009-10 | Achievement | |
| PMGSY | 18,100 villages | 11,395 villages | 62.96 | 13,000 villages | 1,643 villages (till Nov 2009) | 12.64% |
| RGVY | NA | NA | NA | 472,874 villages | 37,064 villages (till Oct 2009) | 7.84% |
| IAY | 2,127,165 houses | 2,136,574 houses | 100.44 | 4,052,243 houses | 2,136,574 houses (till dec 2009) | 52.73% |
| Overall target | Achievement till 2009 | Achievement | |
| Drinking water | 661,376 habitations | 727,976 habitations (till September 2009) | 110.07% |
| Irrigation | 10,000,000 | 7,343,632 (till September 2009) | 73.44% |
| Source: Ministries of power and rural development | |||
Hence, with such a picture, there is thinking within the government to shift focus from merely achieving targets or expanding the scope of the targets to creating sustainable assets and resources.
“Sustainability has indeed emerged as a major challenge, especially in the case of drinking water and irrigation schemes. There is a need for a sustainable management plan to support such government schemes, which are not in place currently,” Planning commission member Mihir Shah told Business Standard.
Among experts, this phenomenon of achieving targets without paying adequate importance to quality and sustainability is called “U without Q” -- utilisation without quality. “The focus should be better utilisation by minimising bottlenecks and thereby increasing the sustainability of the targets achieved,” said Arun Maira, member, planning commission.
