Integrated Rural Development Program

 

The Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) is a rural development program of the Government of India launched in financial year 1978 and extended throughout India by 1980. It is a self-employment program intended to raise the income-generation capacity of target groups among the poor. The target group consists largely of small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers and rural artisans living below the poverty line. The pattern of subsidy is 25 per cent for small farmers, 33-1/3 per cent for marginal farmers,

agricultural labourers and rural artisans and 50 per cent for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes families and physically handicapped persons. The ceiling for subsidy is Rs.6000/- for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes families and the physically handicapped; for others, it is Rs.4000/-in non-DPAP/non-DDP areas and Rs.5000/- in DPAP and DDP areas. Within the target group, there is an assured coverage of 50 per cent for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 40 per cent for women and 3 per cent for the physically handicapped. Priority in assistance is also given to the families belonging to the assignees of ceiling surplus land, Green Card holders covered under the Family Welfare Programme and freed bonded labourers.

RDP is a major self-employment programme for poverty alleviation. The objective of IRDP is to provide suitable income-generating assets through a mix of subsidy and credit to below-poverty-line families with a view to bring them above the poverty line. A family with an annual income of Rs. 20,000/- and below per annum is considered to be below the poverty line based on the 1998 below Poverty Line Census. The list of individual and family activities which are eligible for assistance with the unit cost of each is placed in Annexure.

The aim is to raise recipients above the poverty line by providing substantial opportunities for self-employment. During the 7th five-year plan, the total expenditure under the program was Rs 33.2 million, and Rs 53.7 million of term credit was mobilized. Some 13 million new families participated, bringing total coverage under the program to more than 18 million families. These development programs have played an important role in increased agricultural production by educating farmers and providing them with financial and other inputs to increase yields.

The objective of IRDP is to enable identified rural poor families to cross the poverty line by providing productive assets and inputs to the target groups. The assets, which could be in primary, secondary or tertiary sectors, are provided through financial assistance in the form of subsidy by the government and term credit advanced by financial institutions. The program is implemented in all the blocks in the country as a centrally sponsored scheme funded on 50:50 basis by the centre and the state. The scheme has been merged with another scheme named Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) since 01.04 1999.

The scheme was introduced because the Government of India realized that the piecemeal efforts in the sphere of rural development had not achieved the targeted objectives. The IRDP was proposed to provide self-employment opportunities to the rural poor through provision of capital subsidy and bank credit so as to help rural poor acquire productive income-generating assets and training to upgrade their skills.

Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)!

IRDP is described officially as a major mechanism for the alleviation of rural poverty. The main objective of IRDP is to raise families of identified target group below poverty line by creation of sustainable opportunities for self-employment in the rural sector.

Assistance is given in the form of subsidy by the government and term credit ad­vanced by financial institutions (commercial banks, cooperatives and regional rural banks.) The programme is implemented in all blocks of the country as centrally sponsored scheme funded on 50:50 basis by the centre and the states.

The target group under IRDP consists of small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers and rural artisans having annual in­come below Rs. 11,000 defined as poverty line in the Eighth Plan. In order to ensure that benefits under the programme reach the more vulnerable sectors of the society, it is stipulated that at least 50 per cent of assisted families should be from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes with corresponding flow of resources to them. Furthermore, 40 per cent of the coverage should be of women beneficiaries and 3 per cent of handicapped persons.

The programme is implemented through District Rural Develop­ment Agencies (DRDAs). The governing body of DRDA includes local MP, MLA, Chairman of Zila Parishad, and heads of district develop­ment departments, representatives of SCs, STs and women.

At the grassroot level, the block staff is responsible for implementation of the programme. The State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC) monitors the programme at state level whereas the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment is responsible for the release of central share of funds, policy formation, overall guidance, monitoring and evalu­ation of the programme.

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Integrated Rural Development Programme (I R D P)     

IRDP launched on October 2nd. 1980 all over the Country and accordingly all the 15 Blocks of Boudh- Kandhamal district have been covered under the Scheme. Since then, prior the   above period, IRDP was in operation in 8 blocks of the district since 1978-79.  The I.R.D.P. continues to be a major poverty alleviation programme in the field of Rural Development.  The objective of I.R.D.P. is to enable identified rural poor families to cross the poverty line by providing productive assets and inputs to the target groups.  The assets which could be in primary, secondary or tertiary sector are provided through financial assistance in the form of subsidy by the Govt. and term credit advanced by financial institutions.  The programme is implemented in all the blocks in the country as a centrally sponsored scheme funded on 50:50 basis by the Centre and State.  The Scheme is merged with another scheme named S.G.S.Y. since 01.04.1999.

Limitations:

1. In the integrated rural development, the village has been treated as a homogeneous concept and as a unit of development which is not there.  Thus there is a serious problem of uneconomic and non-viable villages or rural settlements that can form a more economically efficient base for integrated rural development.

2. No attempt was made to consider the policy of distribution of land or for more equitable distribution pattern and revitalizing the possessing of other productive assets in the rural areas by limiting size of individuals units.

3. Inability of science and technology to solve, by itself, the problem of rural poverty.