Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)

About:

                       Inspired by the principles and values of Mahatma Gandhi, the Scheme places equal stress on nurturing values of national pride, patriotism, community spirit, self-confidence and on developing infrastructure. The SAGY will keep the soul of rural India alive while providing its people with quality access to basic amenities and opportunities to enable them to shape their own destiny.

• It was launched in 2014 on the birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan.

Objectives:

• To trigger processes which lead to holistic development of the identified Gram Panchayats 
•  To substantially improve the standard of living and quality of life of all sections of the population through improved basic amenities, higher productivity, enhanced human development, better livelihood opportunities, reduced disparities, access to rights and entitlements, wider social mobilization, enriched social capital.
• To generate models of local level development and effective local governance which can motivate and inspire neighbouring Gram Panchayats to learn and adapt.
• To nurture the identified Adarsh Grams as schools of local development to train other Gram Panchayats.

Salient features:

• It aims to develop three Adarsh Grams by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024. 
• Gram Panchayat would be the basic unit for development. It will have a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal and difficult areas. 
• Member of Parliament (MP) will identify one Gram Panchayat to be taken up immediately, and two others to be taken up a little later. o MPs cannot pick villages which belong to themselves or their spouses 
• Lok Sabha MP has to choose a Gram Panchayat from within his/her constituency and Rajya Sabha MP a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of a district of his/her choice in the State from which he/she is elected. 
• Nominated MPs may choose a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of any district in the country. 
• In the case of urban constituencies (where there are no Gram Panchayats), the MP will identify a Gram Panchayat from a nearby rural constituency. 
• The scheme will be implemented through a village development plan that would be prepared for every identified gram Panchayat. 
• Model of development strategy from supply-driven to demand-driven.
• Leveraging the leadership, capacity, commitment and energy of the Members of Parliament (MP) to develop model Gram Panchayats.
• Engaging with and mobilizing the community for participatory local level development.
• Converging different government programmes and private and voluntary initiatives to achieve comprehensive development in tune with people’s aspirations and local potential.
• Building partnerships with voluntary organisations, co-operatives and academic and research institutions.
• Focusing on outcomes and sustainability.