Background

• According to the Economic Survey 2022-23, 65 percent of India’s population lives in rural areas and agriculture is the main source of livelihood for 47 percent of the population.
• The 2024-25 budget allocation for  agriculture & allied activities registered a 202 percent  and 20.63 percent increase over the actual expenditure  registered in 2016-17 and 2023-24, respectively.  

Issues faced by Rural India

• Dependent on Agriculture: The rural population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and their income is low due to less profit in agriculture.  
  • In India, farming is still dependent on the monsoon. Equal irrigation facilities are not available across the country. 
  • At the same time, the crops of farmers are sometimes ruined by floods and sometimes by drought.

• • Agriculture and Farmers Welfare :Issues that may affect agriculture performance and enhance stress levels of the country’s  monsoon dependent agro-economy are:
    • Low productivity levels 
    • the impact of climate change,  
    • fragmented land holdings and 
    • inadequate marketing  infrastructure
  • Low work participation rates: It is due to the non-availability of adequate employment  opportunities and the necessary investment needed for  creation of job avenues in rural sectors. 

• Pseudo employment: It is a situation where the work which can be done by one person is done by many people together. 

• Other issues: Illiteracy, caste issue, gender discrimination, limited access of farmers to the market, shortage of grain storage, dominance of middlemen, lack of financial awareness, etc. are persisting, and non-availability of health infrastructure, drinking water, communication system, electricity, etc. are making this situation worse. 

Schemes/Initiatives by the Government

• For farmers

• • • Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana: It is a food security scheme launched by the Government of India in March 2020 as part of the economic stimulus package to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
      • The scheme provides free food grains to a significant portion of the population, including beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other eligible categories.
    • Rashtriya Krishi  Vikas Yojana: This scheme was initiated in 2007 as an umbrella scheme for ensuring holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors. 
    • Pradhan Mantri  Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY): It aims to transform the fisheries sector into a major contributor to the Indian economy and improve the livelihoods of millions of fishers and associated communities.
    • Krishionnati Yojana
    • Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY): It was launched during 2015-16 to ensure assured and  quality irrigation.
      • Components: Accelerated  Irrigation Benefits Programme, Command Area  Development and Water Management ,  Har Khet Ko Pani, Per Drop More Crop.
    • Kisan Credit Card: Kisan Credit Card (KCC) was introduced in 1998 to provide credit to farmers based on their land holdings, so that farmers can easily buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, etc.

• Healthcare

• Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana  (PMJAY): 

• • This scheme is dedicated to improving the health of the deprived or weaker sections of the society.
  • It focuses on financial protection to the  citizens and has become the world’s largest health  insurance/ assurance Scheme completely financed by  the Government. 
• National Health Mission: It was launched in April 2005 and aims to ensure the availability of quality health facilities for children, women and underprivileged sections living in rural areas.
• Saksham Anganwadi and Nutrition 2.0: It is an integrated nutrition support programme aimed at protecting children, adolescents, pregnant women and lactating mothers from malnutrition and other serious diseases through strategic changes in nutrition content and distribution. 
• Swachh Bharat Mission: It was launched on 2nd October 2014. This campaign motivates people to donate 100 hours of labour every year, so that every city and every village can be kept clean. 

• Employment Generation:

• The Mahatma  Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act  (MGNREGA): 

• • • • It is to create diverse  green job opportunities at the grass-root level and to  remove demand side rigidities from the rural scenario. 
    • National Rural Livelihood Mission: It has two  important self-employment schematic interventions namely, Deendayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National  Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM). 
      • DAY-NRLM  seeks to reach out to all rural poor women.
      • The core financial support under the  programme is the Revolving Fund (RF) and Community  Investment Fund (CIF) provided to Self Help Group  (SHGs) and their Federations to facilitate their livelihood  activities. 
      • The village entrepreneurship development  approach of DAY-NRLM is aimed at creating a catalytic local entrepreneurial ecosystem and encouraging the  rural unemployed youth to take up local enterprises  on their own. 
    • The Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP): It is a loan linked subsidy scheme, with the objective of creating new employment opportunities in rural areas by promoting new self- employment related ventures to stop the migration of rural youth by making people economically self-reliant. 
    • Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Yojana: Banks are financing the craftsmen and artisans of the unorganised sector to make them economically self- reliant, so that they can be brought into the mainstream. 

• Infrastructure Development

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)- Rural:  With this initiative, the poor and lower middle class will be able to get their own house at an affordable rate.

• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana under which the unpaved roads of villages were connected to the paved roads of cities.
• Jal-Jeevan Mission: This scheme was started in 2019 with the aim of providing drinking water to every household, so that pure drinking water can be provided to all people.

The continued emphasis on rural infrastructure and  social sectors indicates the country’s resolve towards  ensuring inclusive and equitable growth in rural areas. This direction can be taken forward by strengthening women’s participation in the workforce, ease of doing business, rural and urban development, rural infrastructure, etc.