What is it?
Adopted in Union Budget 2017-18, Mission Antyodaya is a convergence and accountability framework aiming to bring optimum use and management of resources allocated by 27 Ministries/ Department of the Government of India under various programmes for the development of rural areas. It is envisaged as state-led initiative with Gram Panchayats as focal points of convergence efforts.
What is the annual survey?
Annual survey in Gram Panchayats across the country is an important aspect of Mission Antyodaya framework. It is carried out coterminous with the People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) of Ministry of Panchayat Raj and its’ purpose is to lend support to the process of participatory planning for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).
Data on 29 Eleventh Schedule subjects at GP-level are collected through the Survey and are used for generating GP-wise ranking and Gap Reports. While the ranking exercise would provide some understanding over the relative success of convergent planning at GP-level, the Gap Reports serves as critical inputs for the GPDP planning.
The basic unit of the Survey is GPs/ villages. Survey data on various development indicators are used for ranking GPs/ villages. The questionnaires deal primarily with the availability of the infrastructures under 29 subjects mentioned in the 11th schedule of the Constitution; and the services availed by the rural poor under sectors like health, nutrition, social security, water management and efficiency for a decent living.
Why are national rankings given?
For improvement. The national rankings are done to gauge the implementation of schemes across fields ranging from agriculture, roads, health parameters to poverty alleviation, rural housing, electrification, drinking water, PDS and education. While in 2017 and 2018, the villages were ranked on the basis of 46 parameters, the scale was widened to 112 parameters for 2019.