Explain in brief any three important poverty alleviation programmes undertaken by the Government of India.
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Rural Poverty Alleviation Programmes in India
Several poverty alleviation programmes in India meant to address poverty alleviation directly or indirectly have been launched by the incumbent government such as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) – a financial inclusion scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana – a housing scheme for the rural poor, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) – aimed at increasing pension scheme beneficiaries in India, the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) – aimed at fostering infrastructure development in rural areas, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) – a crop insurance scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchai Yojana – aimed at attracting irrigation investments, the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY) – for skill development of rural youth, being some examples (Sarkari Yojana, 2018).
Many of these schemes are quite nascent and performance evaluations of these schemes are rather difficult. In the decades shortly after the turn of the century, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and the Public Distribution System (PDS) are prominent examples of the running policies for poverty alleviation in rural India. Before the MGNREGA and the PDS working under new legislation, the Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP), the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), the National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) represent some of the older schemes aimed at benefitting poor people in rural India. The MGNREGA came into force in 2006 and the scheme guarantees 150 days of paid work a year to people in rural areas. The policy aims to improve opportunities for rural people in gaining employment by providing guaranteed wage employment for unskilled manual work. By 2018, 1.5 million households were registered under the MGNREGA (Ministry of Rural Development – GoI, 2018).
The Public Distribution System (PDS) is another programme that helps in improving the quality of life of impoverished populations in India. The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 ties up with the PDS for distribution of food in India for providing subsidized food grains. About 50 per cent of the urban population and about 75 per cent of the rural population is covered by the purview of the Act and beneficiaries are entitled to receive 5 kg of food grains in a month per person at subsidized rates of Rs 3/2/1 per kg of rice, wheat or coarse grains respectively. The Act has been implemented in all of the states and union territories in India and the government claims that out of a coverage target of 813.4 million people, the policy has reached 807.2 million people in total for both rural and urban areas (GoI, 2018). There are some discrepancies however, over the implementation of certain provisions of the Act by some states (ET, 2017).
An example in terms of an older government scheme for the benefit of rural India is the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). The policy came into force in 1979 and aimed to help micro-enterprises by extending loans to beneficiaries for the purchase of assets and by subsidizing asset costs by between 25 and 50 per cent. Although some of the poor made moderate progress as a result of the policy, the IRDP has succeeded in helping only 1 in 5 people in crossing the poverty line (Saxena, 2013). Some rural poverty alleviation programmes in India are listed below:
Table 1: Some rural poverty alleviation programmes in India.
Name of Programme Purpose Date of coming into force
Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) Helping micro-enterprises by extending loans to beneficiaries for the purchase of assets and by subsidizing asset costs. 1979
Public Distribution System (PDS) Distribution of subsidized food and non-food items to India’s poor. 1992
Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) Providing meals to school children and improving their nutritional status. 1995
National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) Financial compensation provided to kin in case of the natural death of a below poverty line primary breadwinner. 1995
National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) A pension scheme for people of old age. 1995
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) Help in providing livelihood security by guaranteeing minimum days of work for rural labour. 2006
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) To ensure financial inclusion by ensuring access to financial services in an affordable manner. 2014
Pradhan Mantri GraminAwaas Yojana A housing scheme for the rural poor. 2017
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