It is neither the richest State in the country nor the poorest, but BJP-ruled Rajasthan still enjoys the distinction of being the only one to enjoy the benefits of all 12 poverty eradication programmes being implemented by the Congress-led UPA Government in 2013-14.

This includes the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) rural housing scheme, low-income housing schemes in urban areas, the national drinking water programme, scheduled castes family and education assistance programmes, the integrated child development services scheme, Anganwadi child and mother care centres, the seven-point charter programme for urban poor families, afforestation measures, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana road-building programme, the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidvutikiran Yojana (RGGVY) for rural electrification and the energising pumpsets programme — all conceived under a 20-Point Programme formalised by the Central Government in 2006.

Ruled by a plethora of national and regional parties, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha and West Bengal, on the other hand, were only afforded the benefits of 11 of the programmes.

Gujarat and Tamil Nadu were beneficiaries of the energising pumpsets project and were excluded from the RGGVY rural electrification drive.

The opposite was true in the case of all other States receiving benefits under the poverty eradication programme.

Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh had 10 of the welfare programmes in operation, while Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Puducherry had nine. Delhi, and Goa were the only beneficiaries of seven programmes, whereas Chandigarh and Daman & Diu had six each and Andaman & Nicobar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshwadeep four each. Notably, no new schemes were introduced in any of the States, with the exception of national drinking water programme targets in Puducherry and projects for coverage of water quality-affected habilitation in Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand. But targets were augmented for a number of welfare programmes in various States.

Rural housing Targets under the poverty eradication programme are ambitious. The IAY rural housing scheme aimed at construction of 25.7 lakh houses in 2013-14, while the economically weak/low-income group housing scheme targeted completion of 1.1 lakh dwellings.

The national drinking water programme sought to provide fresh connections to 26,124 houses and also reinforce provisions already made for 1.2 lakh houses where there was only partial coverage.

About 25.2 lakh scheduled caste families were assisted through the scheduled class sub-plan and National Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Council and 58.7 lakh SC students were to be given post-matriculation scholarships.

 In the case of the integrated child development service programme, a total of 22,090 blocks across various districts in the country were targeted for coverage. The 20-point programme also aimed to establish 27.9 lakh Anganwadi centres. In terms of welfare schemes for the urban poor, a total of 1.8 lakh families were targeted for coverage under the seven-point charter forming the foundation stone of the poverty eradication programme.

Other programmes  Besides projects targeting the poor, the 20-point programme of the government also aimed at afforestation in public and forest land areas, targeting coverage of 16 lakh square hectares under plantation activities and sowing of 104.1 lakh seedlings.

Around 28,516 km of rural roads were also planned.

The RGGVY was expected to electrify 3,022 villages during the year, while 96,689 pumpsets were also slated to be energised.

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