Social-Cultural Issues

The Sampoorna Grameen Swarozga rYojna (SGSY) in rural areas is a holistic livelihood programme focused on SHGs of households below the poverty line.  This is now subsumed under the National Rural Livelihood Mission.

'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan '(The Education for All Movement) is an Indian Government programme aimed at the universalisation of elementary education in a time bound manner.

The Union Cabinet has approved the constitution and operation of a National Social Security Fund for unorganised workers with an initial allocation of Rs.1000 crore to support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, beedi workers etc.

The Rashtriya Swastha Bima Yojana (RSBY), providing for smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000/- per annum per family to BPL families (a unit of five) in unorganized sector.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya known as JNV are Indian schools for talented children and form a part of the system of gifted education. Its significance lies in the selection of talented rural children as the target group and the attempt to provide them with quality education. They are located all over the country, except Tamil Nadu. There are approximately 593 JNVs across India as of 2010. Admission process includes an All India Entrance Exam, held at district level.

The Mahila Samriddhi Yojana and Mahila Kisan Yojana were women-focused financial inclusion schemes. The National Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) has been involved in implementing various financial schemes for marginalized communities, including women from scheduled castes. NABARD focuses on agricultural and rural development but is not the primary agency for these specific schemes. CAPART focuses on rural technology advancement, and the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation serves disabled persons.

The Command Area Development Programme is an integrated area development approach towards the command areas of major and medium irrigation projects in the country. The programme is aimed at bridging the gap between created irrigation potential and its utilization in the command area. The programme was restructured and renamed as Command Area Development & Water Management (CADWM) Programme w.e.f. 1-4-2004.

The Bharat Nirman Volunteer (Bharat Nirman Sevak) was associated with the Diksha programme, which focused on skill development and training. Bharat Nirman was a flagship infrastructure development programme, and its volunteers were part of the capacity-building initiatives. PURA focuses on urban amenities, ASHA is a health worker programme, and Anganwadi is a child care scheme - none of these specifically align with the Bharat Nirman Volunteer programme.

The Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojna (SJSRY) an employment generation programme implemented in urban areas earmarks 30 per cent of labour opportunities for women.  Under this, Urban Women Self Help Programme (UWSP) stipulates a minimum of five women to form a Self Help Group for setting up gainful group enterprise with bank linkage.  A subsidy of Rs.3.00 lakhs of 35% of the cost of the project or Rs.60, 000/- per member of the group, whichever is less, is released with the balance coming from bank loan and margin money.

The Central Government Health Scheme (External website that opens in a new window) was started in 1954 with the objective of providing comprehensive medical care to the Central Government employees, both serving and pensioners and their dependent family members. The scheme is also providing service to members and former member of parliament, judges of Supreme Court and High Court, freedom fighters, former Governors and former Vice-Presidents of India.

Since 1999, SARAS exhibitions have been a regular annual event and have been able to elicit wide participation by the beneficiaries of the programmes of the Ministry from all over the country. SARAS was promoted as an umbrella brand for promoting rural products in Indian urban centres. A major initiative was taken by the Ministry of Rural Development in the direction of promoting rural products and building capacities of Swarozgaris during 1999-2000 when it participated in India International Trade Fair (IITF), 1999 under the banner of SARAS.

Based on pre-agricultural level of technology, low level of literacy, declining or stagnant populations, 75 tribal communities in 17 States and 1 Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Island, have been identified and categorized as Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs). During 2007-08, comprehensive long term “Conservation-cum-Development (CCD) Plans” for PTGs have been formulated for Eleventh Plan period through baseline surveys conducted by respective State Governments/Union territory. These Plans envisage a synergy between efforts of State Governments and non-governmental organizations.

In order to reiterate the Government's multi-sectoral response to prevent the spread of HIV and to facilitate a strong multi-sectoral response to combat it effectively, a National Council on AIDS (NCA) has been constituted, under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Prime Minister with representation of 33 ministries and departments. Private sector, civil society organisation, PLHA networks and government departments would all play crucial role in prevention, care, support, treatment and service delivery.

CAPART was formed by amalgamating two agencies the 'Council for Advancement of Rural Technology' (CART) and People's Action for Development India (PADI). CAPART is an autonomous body, registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, and is functioning under the aegis of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Formal recognition of the role of voluntary organisations in the Seventh Plan document led to the formation of the Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) in 1986, as a nodal agency for catalysing and coordinating the emerging partnership between voluntary organisations and the Government for sustainable development of rural areas.

In pursuance of the Government's vision of creating slum-free India, a new scheme of Rajiv Aawas Yojana (RAY) was launched on 2^nd June, 2011. The scheme aims at providing support to states that are willing to assign property rights to slum dwellers.