Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP)

Salient Features of the Integrated Rural Development Program

• IRDP will aid the underprivileged Indian people, among whom 50% must belong to the scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) categories.
• The Scheme requires a minimum of 40% to be women from rural areas.
• The Scheme has benefited more than 535L families, among whom 45% are from the SC/ST categories.
• The Scheme has invested more than INR 17441 per family currently. It was INR 1642 per family in 1980-81.
• In 1988-89, the Scheme sanctioned INR 800 Cr to the underprivileged to provide a sum of INR 60 Cr to rural artisans. The sum exceeded 45% of the approved amount in 1997-98.

Scheme to Start a Business

• Through the TRYSEM (Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment), the Scheme trains the youth from families eligible under the IRDP scheme to start a business or another self-earning or wage-earning employment. Among those who receive training under the program, a minimum of 50% should be rural youth, and 40% should be women.

Scheme for Women and Children

• The Scheme focuses on empowering women and children in rural areas through the DWCRA (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas) initiatives. The program assists women in earning an income by involving themselves in productive activities and thus aims to raise the socio-economic status of women and children.
• The DWCRA was in effect during 1998-99 and successfully assisted over 1.97L women.

Scheme for Providing Jobs to Agriculture Labour During Lean Period

• The rural youth in India are actively involved during the cultivation season but are jobless during the lean period in the agricultural centre. The Indian Government, thus, launched the Jawahar Rozgaar Yojana (JRY) to provide employment opportunities to people (both men and women) eligible under the IRDP. The implementation was 70% in the Panchayat and 15% each for block and district levels.
• From 1998 to 1999, the Scheme set aside a sum of INR 2095 Cr for the JRY and aimed to provide jobs for 396.66 M working days to the beneficiaries. The initiative spent INR 1244 Cr and successfully offered the rural youth 190.28M jobs by November 1998.

Employment for Unskilled Labourers in Rural Areas

• The easy access to the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) worked beneficial to unskilled labourers in the rural blocks in India. The provision of jobs is only during the lean agricultural period. EAS covers certain blocks in Rural India, and the families residing in such areas are eligible for the Scheme. The Scheme will employ about 100 days to a maximum of 2 unskilled family members. However, the beneficiaries should be between 18 years and 60 years.
• The sum set aside for EAS was INR 1990 Cr from 1998 to 1999, the spending was INR 1572 Cr, and the job opportunities were 237.61M working days.

Better Irrigational Facilities

Old Age and Maternity Treatment

• People below the poverty line also need medical treatment for maternity and old age. The families need support when the sole breadwinner suddenly expires. To help people who are thus aggrieved, the Central Government introduced and fully funded the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP). The Scheme offers three sub-schemes to assist the rural people in India. They are as follows:
• National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS)
• National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS); and
• National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS).
• The Government allocated a sum of INR 700 Cr for the Scheme's implementation and carefully monitored the program, and, per the Central Advisory Committee's suggestions, modified the NFBS and NMBS rates.

Assistance to the Urban Youth

• Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) began its operations on the 1st of December 1997. It employs the urban youth by supporting them to start their ventures or to secure a wage-earning job. The central Government funds 75% of the Scheme, and the state government provides the rest of the 25%. It consists of two distinct schemes: The Urban Self-Employment Programme (USEP) and the Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP).
• The SJSRY Scheme works to uplift women with programs like Development of Women and Children in urban areas to assist poor women groups in urban areas to set up self-employment ventures. They will receive a subsidy of up to 50% of the project cost.
• Under the Scheme, the Central Government released INR 98.65 Cr to the states and Union Territories covered by the SJSRY Scheme in 1997-98; subsequently, in 1998-99, the centre released a sum of INR 189 Cr. from which 12 states received INR.64.59 Cr.

Education to the Unemployed Youth in the Eighth Plan

Continuation of the Scheme in the Ninth Plan

Objectives of the IRDP Scheme in India

• The Scheme aims to help people in rural India. They are agriculture labourers who do not own land of their own. They may be small and marginal farmers, rural craftsmen and artisans. They may be a family of five whose joint annual income does not exceed INR 3500.
• The primary purpose of IRDP was to pull BPL households in rural regions out of poverty over time by providing them with income-generating assets and access to financing and other inputs.
• In 1982, with the implementation of the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), IRDP began to work for the welfare of women and children in rural areas.
• The IRDP was the most significant initiative of the Sixth Five Year Plan for poverty alleviation in rural areas in terms of aggregate investment planned and the number of households to benefit.

Who is Covered by the IRDP Scheme

• Rural poor
• Artisans
• Marginal farmers
• Schedule castes
• Schedule tribes
• Backward classes whose average income does not exceed INR 11,000

Who is Eligible for the Integrated Rural Development Program?

• Several Cooperatives,
• Commercial Banks,
• Regional Rural Banks

Allied Initiatives of IRDP

Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA)

Ganga Kalyan Yojana (GKY)

Million Wells Scheme (MWS)

Supply of Improved Toolkits to Rural Artisans (SITRA)

Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM)

IRDP— Application Procedure

• Selection of an underprivileged family.
• Interview the family to ascertain their eligibility for the benefits.
• Collection of Resources by financial institutions and rural banks
• Submission of all details to the State's SLCC for approval
• The appointment of a three-member committee to assess each block
• The committee authorises the authenticity of the plans for each block.

Distribution of Subsidies to Beneficiaries

• Small farmers will receive subsidies of up to 25%
• Marginal farmers and Agricultural labourers are entitled to a subsidy of up to 33.33%
• Women will receive subsidies of up to 40%
• SC/ST families and differently-abled people receive subsidies and other assistance up to 50%.
• SC/ST families will receive a subsidy amount that will not exceed INR 6,000
• Differently-abled or disabled people living in non-drought prone locality will receive INR 4000
• Differently-abled or disabled people living in drought-prone localities will receive INR 5000

Priority To The Following Categories During Subsidy Distribution

• The following categories receive preferential treatment during subsidy allotment:
• The SC/ST women receive ceiling surplus land assignment.
• Green card holders who qualify for free bonded labour and family welfare programmes are also the first priority.

In a Nutshell,

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

Q. How does IRDP work?

Q. What are the current sub-schemes of IRDP?

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
• NRLM – National Rural Livelihood Mission (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana)
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana(DDU GKY)
• Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana(PMAY-G)
• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana(PMGSY)
• Shyama Prasad Mukherji urban Mission
• National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP)

Q. What is the primary aim of IRDP?

Q. What does IRDP mean?