Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana focuses on the social and cultural development of the villages. Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced this scheme in October 2014. Saanjhi is another name for this yojana.
Under the Yojana, each Member of Parliament will be in charge of creating the institutional and physical infrastructure in three villages by March 2019. They adopt a Gram Panchayat and direct its all-encompassing development. Along with infrastructure, they prioritize social development. After that, five of these Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be chosen and created by 2024.
Objectives of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
- According to the Yojana, each Member of Parliament (MP) is in charge of constructing the physical and socio-economic infrastructure of three villages by 2019, and five more villages in the next 5 years, a total of 8 villages by 2024.
- It was planned to create the first Adarsh Gram (Model Village) by 2016 and two more by 2019.
- Each MP must create five additional Adarsh Grams between 2019 and 2024, one per year.
- This suggests that, out of the 2,65,000 gram panchayats, a total of 6,433 Adarsh Grams will be established by 2024.
- Enhancing people’s quality of life and personal development across the board by enhancing the core infrastructure, raising the global average standard of living, increasing productivity, creating better jobs, reducing inequality, and developing social capital.
- To establish effective village governance.
- To encourage neighbouring Village Panchayats to prioritize development.
Criteria to select a Village for Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
- A Gram Panchayat would be the fundamental entity. The population should be between 3000-5000 in the plains and between 1000 and 3000 in the tribal, hilly, and rough areas.
- The MP would be free to choose which Gram Panchayat should be transformed into an ideal village.
- The MP is able to distinguish between one Gram Panchayat and another right away.
- A Lok Sabha MP may select a Gram Panchayat in his district. Additionally, a Rajya Sabha MP may select a Gram Panchayat in a district of his choice within the State in which he is elected.
Benefits of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
- The initiative aims to extend the availability of preventive, curative, palliative, and rehabilitative services throughout the Public Sector and improve the overall health system by coordinated policy efforts in every sector.
- The services targeting women’s and children’s health, universal immunization, etc. were the main focus of this mission.
- Living in peace with nature ensures a balance between development and the environment.
- Promoting and preserving the social legacy of the neighbourhood.
- It will promote common engagement, self-improvement, and self-assurance.
- Ensuring the inclusion of all societal groups in all facets of town life, especially those related to administrative procedures.
- Staying true to Antyodaya, which aims to bring prosperity to the “poorest and weak individual” in the region.
- confirming gender equality and ensuring that women are respected
- promoting group engagement, personal growth, and self-assurance, and fostering amity and peace within the village network.
Challenges of the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
- Since there is no platform where MPs can track the advancement of various initiatives, the main difficulty for them is to regularly check the growth on the ground.
- The major problem with SAGY is that there isn’t any dedicated funding for the program. Due to a lack of funding, the sarpanch is unable to start any work.
- Because SAGY activities are so varied, careful coordination and convergence between many ministries, agencies, programs, state governments, MPLADS, and the private sector will be necessary to successfully administer the scheme. So, the biggest difficulty is in the coordination among different ministries and departments.
- Choosing the right village is another issue. According to the rules, an MP may choose any village beside his or her own or that of their spouse. This presents a problem for MPs. Voters from other villages may object if they choose a particular village.
Analysis of the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
- Only 1,753-gram panchayats have been chosen throughout four phases since the scheme’s launch, far less than anticipated.
- The adoption of gram panchayats by MPs decreased during the course of the SAGY’s phases, from 703 in Phase-1 to 497 in Phase-2 and 301 in Phase-3.
- By Phase 4 of the program, over two-thirds of Lok Sabha MPs had not chosen any Gram Panchayats.
