SAANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Governance)

Context:  There are 1782 Gram Panchayats adopted under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) during the last five years, information was given by the Union Minister of State for Rural Development in Rajya Sabha.

Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)

• It is a village development initiative launched by the Union Government in 2014.
• According to the initiative, each Member of Parliament would be in charge of developing institutional and physical infrastructure in three villages (Adarsh Grams) by 2019.
• After that, five such Adarsh Grams (one each year) are to be identified and developed by 2024.
• SAGY aims to introduce essential values in the villages and their inhabitants well beyond only infrastructural development, making them role models for others.
• Selecting villages:
• Lok Sabha members can choose any Gram Panchayat from within his/her constituency.
• Rajya Sabha members can choose any Gram Panchayat from the rural area of a district of his/her choice in the State from which he/she is elected.
• Nominated members can choose a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of any district in the country.
• The Program is being closely coordinated and monitored by the Ministry of Rural Development, which serves as the nodal ministry.
• The Yojana receives no fresh funding, and funds may be raised in the following ways:
• Funds from existing programmes like the Backward Regions Grant Fund, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Plan, among others.

• Member of Parliament Local Area Development Program (MPLADS).

• The revenue generated by the gram panchayat.
• Grants made by the Central and State Finance Commissions.
• Corporate Social Responsibility funds.