Organization : Ministry of Rural Development
Service Name : SAGY Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojna
Country: India
Website : http://www.saanjhi.gov.in/
Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojna:
Objectives:
The main objectives of SAGY are:
a. improved basic amenities
b. higher productivity
c. enhanced human development
d. better livelihood opportunities
e. reduced disparities
f. access to rights and entitlements
g. wider social mobilization
h. enriched social capital
Goal:
The goal of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is to translate this comprehensive and organic vision of Mahatma Gandhi into reality, keeping in view the present context
Values Of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana:
Far beyond mere infrastructure development, SAGY aims at instilling certain values in the villages and their people so that they get transformed into models for others.
These values include:
i. Adopting people’s participation as an end in itself – ensuring the involvement of all sections of society in all aspects related to the life of village, especially in decisionmaking related to governance
ii. Adhering to Antyodaya – enabling the “poorest and the weakest person” in the village to achieve well-being
iii. Affirming gender equality and ensuring respect for women
iv. Guaranteeing social justice
v. Instilling dignity of labour and the spirit of community service and voluntarism
vi. Promoting a culture of cleanliness
vii. Living in consonance with nature – ensuring a balance between development and ecology
viii. Preserving and promoting local cultural heritage
ix. Inculcating mutual cooperation, self-help and self-reliance
x. Fostering peace and harmony in the village community
xi. Bringing about transparency, accountability and probity in public life
xii. Nurturing local self-governance
xiii. Adhering to the values enshrined in the Fundamental Rights and Fundamental
Duties of the Indian Constitution:
SAGY aims at instilling certain values in the villages and their people so that they get transformed into models for others.
i. To trigger processes which lead to holistic development of the identified Gram Panchayats
ii. To substantially improve the standard of living and quality of life of all sections of the population through –
iii. To generate models of local level development and effective local governance which can motivate and inspire neighbouring Gram Panchayats to learn and adapt
iv. To nurture the identified Adarsh Grams as schools of local development to train other Gram Panchayats
Approach:
In order to achieve these objectives, SAGY would be guided by the following approach:
Lessons From The Past:
Some Gram Panchayats have shown exceptional achievement in integrated local development, mainly due to inspiring leadership and collective action. While learning from such best practices, it has also to be kept in mind that there are several challenges as revealed by past experiences related to local level development.
The difficulties commonly faced are:
Leveraging the leadership, capacity, commitment and energy of the Members of Parliament (MP) to develop model Gram Panchayats.
Activities In An Adarsh Gram:
An Adarsh Gram should evolve out of people’s shared vision, using their capacities and available resources to the best extent possible, duly facilitated by the MP, the Gram Panchayat, civil society and the government machinery. Naturally, the elements of an Adarsh Gram would be context specific. However, it is still possible to broadly identify the important activities.
They would include:
i. Inability to develop a shared vision of development over a longer period
ii. Disconnect between development inputs delivered and the genuine needs of the community
iii. Lack of participation of all sections of society, especially the marginalized and the aged
iv. Focus on infrastructure and expenditure ignoring the social aspects and sustainable outcomes
v. Reliance primarily on government grants and not emphasising community contributions and self help
vi. Absence of organic convergence of different schemes
vii. Unfair decisions regarding allocation of benefits to locations and households leading to alienation
viii. Political partisanship – perceived and real
ix. Disregard of socio-cultural values of different sections of the community
x. Existence of multiple power structures and absence of a reconciling mechanism
xi. Ignoring environmental concerns for immediate gains
xii. Prevalence of social evils like drinking, dowry, casteism, communalism and discrimination against women