Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana was initiated to bring the member of parliament of all the political parties under the same umbrella while taking the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in villages and turn them into model villages.Under this scheme, each member of parliament needs to choose one village each from the constituency that they represent, fix parameters and make it a model village by 2016. Thereafter, they can take on two or three more villages and do the same by the time the next general elections come along in 2019, and thereafter, set themselves ten-year-long village or rural improvement projects.Villages will be offered smart schools, universal access to basic health facilities and Pucca housing to homeless villagers.
Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is a village development project launched by Government of India in October 2014, under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019. The goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams or model villages 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. (Sansad refers to Parliament, Adarsh refers to model, Gram refers to village and Yojna means Scheme)
The Project was launched on the occasion of birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan and is inspired by the principles and values of Mahatma Gandhi. It aims to provide rural India with quality access to basic amenities and opportunities.
The Scheme has a holistic approach towards development. It envisages integrated development of the selected village across multiple areas such as agriculture, health, education, sanitation, environment, livelihoods etc. Far beyond mere infrastructure development, SAGY aims at instilling and nurturing values of national pride, patriotism, community spirit, self-confidence people’s participation, dignity of women, etc. in the people.
The scheme is implemented through Members of Parliament (MPs) with District Collector being the nodal officer. The MP would be free to identify a suitable gram panchayat for being developed as Adarsh Gram, other than his/her own village or that of his/her spouse. Gram Panchayat, which has a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal and difficult areas, would be the basic unit for development.
A village development plan would be prepared for every identified gram panchayat with special focus on enabling every poor household to come out of poverty. The constituency fund, MPLADS, would be available to fill critical financing gaps. The outcomes include 100% immunization, 100% institutional delivery, reduced infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, reduction in malnutrition among children etc.
If each MP adopts three villages, the scheme will be able to develop 2,379 gram panchayats over the next five years. (The Lok Sabha has 543 MPs and the Rajya Sabha 250, of which 12 are nominated. There are 2,65,000 gram panchayats in India. )
