Parliament Question: Challenges in Rural Areas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3693 ANSWERED ON 12/08/2025 CHALLENGES IN RURAL AREAS

3693. Shri Zia Ur Rehman:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware of challenges in rural areas, including unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, housing shortage and poor access to basic services and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the funds allocated and utilised under major rural schemes such as MGNREGS, PMAY-G and NRLM during the last three years, State-wise;

(c) the number of households provided employment under MGNREGS and housing under PMAY-G, State-wise, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh;

(d) whether any recent evaluation or social audit of these schemes has been conducted to assess effectiveness and delivery gaps and if so, the details thereof;

(e) the steps taken to improve transparency, accountability and payment systems under MGNREGS and construction quality under PMAY-G; and

(f) whether the Government plans to strengthen digital infrastructure and panchayat-level systems for better delivery and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

(a) & (b): Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) is implementing a number of welfare schemes/programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY), Rural Self Employment Training Institutes(RSETIs), National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP) and Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Page 1 of 9Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY). These schemes/programmes aim to address the challenges in rural areas of the country, alleviate poverty and to bring about overall improvement in the quality of life of the people in rural areas of the country by strengthening livelihood opportunities, providing minimum guaranteed employment, promoting self-employment, skilling of youths in various useful trades and entrepreneurship qualities, infrastructure development and provision of social assistance.

State/Union Territory-wise funds allocated and utilized under MGNREGS, PMAY-G and NRLM during the last three years wherever maintained is at Annexure- I.

(c): State/Union Territory-wise number of households provided employment under MGNREGS and housing under PMAY-G including in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh is at Annexure -II.

(d): Evaluation of schemes/programmes of MoRD is a continuous process and necessary corrective actions are taken based on the assessment of their implementation at ground level. Under MGNREGS, a third-party study in terms of increase in household income, poverty alleviation etc. sponsored by NITI Aayog in 2020 has been made. As per the study, MGNREGS found to be a powerful instrument for inclusive growth in rural India through its impact on social protection, livelihood security and democratic empowerment.

It provides livelihood security for the poor through creation of durable assets, improved water security, soil conservation and higher land productivity. It has had a positive impact on the standard of living of households through increase in household income by improvements in production from agriculture and has led to major increases in wages of rural workers. Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women along with socially excluded communities benefit from and are included in MGNREGS plans which could be a significant indicator of poverty alleviation in rural areas.

Similarly, an impact evaluation study of the DAY-NRLM was conducted during 2019–20 by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), with support from the World Bank. This large-scale study aimed to assess the effectiveness, outcomes, and delivery gaps in the implementation of the scheme. The evaluation covered 9 states-Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh-and involved a sample of approximately 27,000 respondents and 5,000 Women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Key findings from the evaluation

include:

Page 2 of 9i. Income Enhancement: Women in SHGs located in treatment areas recorded a 19% increase in income over the baseline, demonstrating the scheme's positive impact on livelihoods. ii. Improved Access to Formal Credit: A 20% decline in reliance on informal loans was observed, indicating greater financial inclusion and access to formal credit channels.

iii. Savings Growth: A 28% increase in household savings was reported, reflecting enhanced financial resilience among SHG members. iv. Higher Workforce Participation: A 4% increase in secondary occupation participation was observed among women in treatment areas, suggesting improved economic engagement.

In addition to this, as per the mandate of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Ministry has laid emphasis on the setting up of an institutional structure at the States/UTs level for facilitating social audits of all the Gram Panchayats at least twice a year. With the consistent efforts by Ministry, a total of 27 States and 1 UT have established Independent Social Audit Units. Similarly, PMAY-G guidelines mandate Social Audit to ensure achievement of public accountability in PMAY-G implementation. This is an ongoing process involving public vigilance and verification, and is to be conducted in every Gram Panchayat at least once in a year involving a mandatory review of all aspects.

(e) & (f): MGNERGS is implemented on an end-to-end integrated transaction-based MIS platform called NREGASoft through which all aspects relating to planning, administrative and technical approval of the scheme, issue of job cards, acceptance of demand, issue of muster roll, measurement, approval of payment and finally payment to the beneficiary through a DBT-PFMS platform are monitored. Transparency and accountability are the prime focus of the scheme. Ministry of Rural Development has adopted a robust process for ensuring transparency and accountability in the implementation of the scheme across the States/UTs. Various monitoring and evaluation arrangements made to ensure the workers

get timely wage payments under the Scheme include:- Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system in wage payment, National Mobile Monitoring Service (NMMS) for capturing of attendance at worksites, Area Officer Monitoring Visit Application for field visit of officials, GIS based plan– Use of Space Technology, Software for Estimate Calculation for using Rural Rates for Employment (SECURE) software for online estimate generation etc.

Page 3 of 9Similarly, PMAY-G is monitored very closely at all levels. There is a special emphasis on quality and timely completion of construction. The details of the monitoring mechanism adopted under PMAY-G include monitoring progress of construction through the geo-tagged, time and date-stamped photographs for each stage of construction, periodical visit of National-level Monitors and Area Officers, inspection of houses by the Project Management Unit (PMU) at the State level, community-based participatory monitoring system utilizing the services of the Self Help Group (SHG), 100% Aadhaar- Based Payments to beneficiaries through the AwaasSoft- PFMS platform electronically, monitoring progress of different parameters for implementing the scheme through the Performance Index Dashboard etc.

Under PMAY-G, various technology-based solutions to maximize transparency and ensure sanctity in the process right from the

identification to completion of the houses include: i. Awaas+ 2024 app- having features of assisted survey through pre-registered surveyors, housing technology selection, face authentication, Aadhar based e-KYC, data capture of household, conditions of existing house, time stamped, and geo tagged photo capture of existing house, proposed site of construction. The app works in online as well as offline mode. “Self-Survey” facility is available for eligible household in Awaas+2024 app Survey for next phase of PMAYG (2024-29).

ii. Usage of AI/ML model to curb fraudulent activity and provide information of possible malpractices. iii. Recommendation System – This module identifies various house attributes such as pucca wall, pucca roof, kutcha wall, kutcha roof, logo, window, door, and person in the uploaded photos of a completed house and recommends a final photograph for approval.

iv. KYC App – The app is integrated with Aadhaar and uses AI-enabled face authentication technology to conduct verification of PMAY-G beneficiaries. v. Liveliness Detection: Eye Blink/ Motion detection feature in Awaas App for identification of the beneficiaries.

These technological interventions help gram panchayats for effective and timely implementation of the schemes. ***** Page 4 of 9Annexure-I Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.3693 to be answered on 12.08.2025 States/Union Territories-wise funds allocated and utilized, wherever maintained, under MGNREGS, PMAY-G and DAY-NRLM of MoRD

1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) (Rs in crore) Funds released during the last three years under MGNREGS Sl.No States/UTs 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 1 Andhra Pradesh 8008.81 7353.67 7707.21 2 Arunachal Pradesh 578.32 427.35 560.70 3 Assam 2055.28 2221.38 1929.70 4 Bihar 6403.07 6200.03 6715.83 5 Chhattisgarh 3396.94 2895.12 3354.85 6 Goa 5.12 0.88 3.70 7 Gujarat 1692.07 1802.26 1540.54 8 Haryana 373.99 477.87 590.19 9 Himachal Pradesh 1162.83 1000.96 1203.28 10 Jammu & Kashmir 1050.99 921.60 1151.20 11 Jharkhand 2712.91 2922.27 2705.64 12 Karnataka 6232.83 5431.67 5709.90 13 Kerala 3832.43 3532.57 3136.44 14 Madhya Pradesh 5711.77 5891.65 6252.03 15 Maharashtra 2552.01 3041.48 4420.32 16 Manipur 1086.63 0.95 581.99 17 Meghalaya 1118.76 913.86 1155.09 18 Mizoram 540.39 507.96 611.65 19 Nagaland 899.76 641.50 287.85 20 Odisha 4645.73 4906.78 3763.80 21 Punjab 1182.13 1169.84 1331.61 22 Rajasthan 9662.99 8683.98 7581.87 23 Sikkim 92.71 112.19 97.57 24 Tamil Nadu 9743.53 12616.53 7585.49 25 Telangana 2999.11 3520.87 3825.31 26 Tripura 924.60 1043.59 1041.70 27 Uttar Pradesh 10652.24 9844.25 9721.48 28 Uttarakhand 794.72 553.81 626.43 29 West Bengal* 1.33 0.00 0.00 30 Andaman & Nicobar 9.60 0.00 4.44 31 Lakshadweep 1.62 2.21 0.32 32 Puducherry 0.00 0.00 40.56 33 Ladakh 24.95 58.77 85.98 34 Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu 68.93 62.64 9.02 Total 90219.10 88760.50 85333.70 * Pending liability in case of State of West Bengal includes wage, material and admin component. Release of fund to the State of West Bengal has been stopped since 9th March, 2022 as per provision of section 27 of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 due to non compliance with directives of Central Government.

Page 5 of 92. Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) (Rs in crore) Central Share released and Expenditure during the last three years under PMAY-G Central Release Expenditure (including State share) S.No State 2022-23 2023-24* 2024-25* 2022-23 2023-24* 2024-25* 1 Arunachal 69.58 200.605 1.00 127.27 239.84 32.39 Pradesh 2 Assam 9141.75 2934.45 4336.24 10913.25 6356.77 3589.42 3 Bihar 7497.21 29.6575 2279.60 11718.07 1097.77 4338.54 4 Chhattisgarh 344.23 1730.7576 5321.89 822.15 2201.82 5904.30 5 Goa 0.00 0 0.00 0.49 0.58 0.03 6 Gujarat 911.75 559.2525 1302.49 1004.67 1540.76 1368.93 7 Haryana 44.33 3.2325 143.46 62.35 32.42 132.65 8 Himachal 37.86 99.464 871.39 33.24 92.40 689.95 Pradesh 9 Jammu And 1031.58 1234.685 288.88 709.95 1363.33 636.37 Kashmir 10 Jharkhand 1236.02 28.09 1014.75 2127.40 523.32 677.37 11 Kerala 70.29 2.11 66.02 94.63 22.86 125.18 12 Madhya Pradesh 6374.91 241.64 4277.68 11171.29 1258.44 3734.67 13 Maharashtra 1676.07 785.2148 4980.59 3098.13 1809.60 4861.40 14 Manipur 161.14 216.4475 169.64 128.80 157.32 138.14 15 Meghalaya 106.44 1591.2625 0.00 88.26 1498.34 245.95 16 Mizoram 29.58 157.8975 12.95 55.52 140.30 58.81 17 Nagaland 52.50 334.165 54.91 28.68 322.57 156.13 18 Odisha 1723.28 4310.7076 825.05 310.83 7643.52 2714.60 19 Punjab 71.68 32.635 239.78 100.86 48.15 184.18 20 Rajasthan 2157.52 67.57 1239.90 3036.53 661.99 1440.76 21 Sikkim 0.97 1.577847 0.00 1.67 2.12 0.60 22 Tamil Nadu 2004.39 28.2325 167.09 2290.47 975.55 310.84 23 Tripura 1264.20 1276.9 204.86 1325.14 1664.58 151.68 24 Uttar Pradesh 4777.03 2620.931 130.45 7317.50 5014.91 785.93 25 Uttarakhand 128.08 388.1925 20.27 172.55 353.88 72.72 26 West Bengal 0.00 0 0.00 1108.30 80.57 30.71 27 Andaman and 0.00 5.45 0.00 0.42 2.19 3.55 Nicobar 28 Dadra and Nagar 0.00 0 16.12 13.49 16.73 26.40 Haveli 29 Daman and Diu 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.16 0.11 30 Lakshadweep 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 31 Puducherry 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 32 Andhra Pradesh 0.00 312.25 113.50 87.65 503.66 90.91 33 Karnataka 214.92 3.61 414.04 0.00 468.67 447.06 34 Telangana 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 35 Ladakh 3.09 18.90 0.00 3.00 18.00 0.08 Total 41130.36 19215.89 28492.52 57952.62 36113.12 32950.34 *including PM_JANMAN Page 6 of 93. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) (Rs.in Crore) Allocation and release 2022-23 to 2024-25 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 NS o.

State/UT s A lC loe cn at tr ia ol n RC ee len atr sa el s Expenditure* A lC loe cn at tr ia ol n RC ee len atr sa el s Expenditure* AlC loe cn atr ta iol n Central Releases Expen *d iture Andhra 1 Pradesh 251.73 188.80 467.53 251.73 62.94 173.00 307.69 230.77 249.92 2 Bihar 1026.58 1283.23 2166.72 1026.58 1411.55 2028.41 1254.78 1725.33 2509.33 3 Chhattisgarh 228.01 171.01 295.38 228.01 295.81 386.57 278.70 278.70 467.21 4 Goa 7.50 7.50 12.72 7.50 7.50 12.93 9.00 12.38 15.76 5 Gujarat 162.44 121.83 196.76 162.44 162.44 250.25 198.55 198.55 320.94 6 Haryana 95.57 47.78 67.44 95.57 47.78 56.87 116.81 29.20 68.78 Himachal 7 Pradesh 40.25 40.25 45.70 40.25 55.34 56.58 49.19 67.64 65.65 Jammu & 8 Kashmir 180.17 127.84 141.94 180.00 180.00 171.00 60.79 45.59 112.37 9 Jharkhand 387.08 387.08 693.38 387.08 387.08 667.49 473.13 473.13 844.52 10 Karnataka 325.87 244.40 444.79 325.87 325.87 556.73 398.31 270.55 602.77 11 Kerala 146.22 109.66 148.14 146.22 109.66 222.40 178.72 178.72 268.11 Madhya 12 Pradesh 488.46 488.46 585.76 488.46 244.23 613.58 597.04 447.78 585.87 13 Maharashtra 644.01 483.01 763.24 644.17 885.73 1294.08 787.36 1082.62 1884.76 14 Odisha 493.59 616.99 1006.44 493.59 678.69 888.67 603.31 576.12 1199.55 15 Punjab 46.44 34.83 56.35 46.44 42.54 66.23 56.77 56.77 83.82 16 Rajasthan 247.45 340.24 500.95 247.45 247.45 543.44 302.45 415.87 535.65 17 Tamil Nadu 381.57 381.57 834.62 381.57 286.18 509.61 466.39 349.80 755.25 18 Telengana 179.81 44.95 81.71 179.81 0.00 77.14 219.78 83.95 147.64 Uttar 19 Pradesh 1477.94 1108.45 1829.21 1477.94 1477.94 2297.81 1806.47 1465.13 2224.21 20 Uttarakhand 77.81 106.99 99.90 77.81 106.99 135.36 95.11 127.11 130.43 21 West Bengal 548.53 548.53 779.72 548.53 657.16 1038.02 670.46 921.88 1442.72 Andaman & Nicobar 22 Islands 9.00 4.50 4.25 6.00 6.00 5.59 7.00 5.25 4.64 Daman & Diu and D&N 23 Haveli 6.00 3.00 2.53 4.50 3.38 2.30 5.50 5.50 3.86 24 Lakshadweep 2.39 1.19 1.15 3.00 1.50 7.18 3.50 1.75 1.40 25 Ladakh 13.19 6.60 3.43 10.00 10.00 1.13 7.50 7.50 6.62 26 Puducherry 17.00 12.75 13.46 17.00 17.00 14.67 20.00 20.00 16.08 Arunachal 27 Pradesh 132.26 99.19 91.00 127.76 127.76 130.21 79.56 79.56 118.87 28 Assam 381.36 381.36 456.30 398.43 398.43 468.63 406.88 376.26 485.05 29 Manipur 125.38 31.35 27.30 105.23 52.62 62.70 138.58 69.29 72.57 30 Meghalaya 169.28 169.28 154.25 199.76 274.67 121.35 155.26 213.48 283.66 31 Mizoram 156.72 39.18 54.64 163.96 63.87 72.46 35.93 17.96 60.52 32 Nagaland 177.94 88.97 82.10 164.28 123.21 94.60 106.50 106.50 143.81 33 Sikkim 66.49 16.62 20.32 73.32 18.33 15.92 39.78 9.94 16.96 34 Tripura 241.62 120.81 173.31 305.35 305.35 316.56 250.22 250.22 263.81 Total 8935.66 7858.21 12302.45 9015.60 9074.99 13359.44 10187.00 10200.79 15993.10 *Note-Expenditure against the total available funds which includes (Opening Balance+Central Share+State Share+Other receipts) Page 7 of 9Annexure-II Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.3693 to be answered on 12.08.2025 State/Union Territory-wise household provided employment under MGNREGS and Housing under PMAY-G A. State/Union Territories –wise detail of households availed employment under MGNREGS during the last three financial year.

Household availed the employment (Figure in lakh) SI. No. States/UTs 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 1 Andhra Pradesh 45.83 46.55 46.94 2 Arunachal Pradesh 2.71 2.69 3.01 3 Assam 22.98 22.46 19.13 4 Bihar 50.14 48.18 51.21 5 Chhattisgarh 25.74 24.77 25.61 6 Goa 0.04 0.02 0.03 7 Gujarat 10.29 9.94 9.08 8 Haryana 3.08 3.66 3.46 9 Himachal Pradesh 6.47 6.74 7.18 10 Jammu And Kashmir 7.06 6.86 7.32 11 Jharkhand 20.65 21.85 20.22 12 Karnataka 29.58 29.95 29.13 13 Kerala 15.51 14.69 13.72 14 Ladakh 0.34 0.32 0.33 15 Madhya Pradesh 45.16 40.85 38.61 16 Maharashtra 21.20 24.46 30.07 17 Manipur 3.57 4.78 5.25 18 Meghalaya 4.79 4.89 4.70 19 Mizoram 2.16 2.19 2.09 20 Nagaland 4.21 4.07 2.11 21 Odisha 33.35 32.71 23.38 22 Punjab 8.46 8.49 8.34 23 Rajasthan 63.46 63.85 58.86 24 Sikkim 0.60 0.61 0.60 25 Tamil Nadu 65.67 68.76 65.32 26 Telangana 27.35 25.33 26.69 27 Tripura 5.58 5.87 5.91 28 Uttar Pradesh 70.03 68.54 65.27 29 Uttarakhand 5.01 4.72 4.32 30 West Bengal 16.29 0.08 0.00 31 Andaman And Nicobar 0.05 0.04 0.03 32 Dn Haveli And Dd 0.00 0.01 0.05 33 Lakshadweep 0.00 0.00 0.00 34 Puducherry 0.42 0.52 0.47 Total 617.76 599.45 578.44 Page 8 of 9B. Cumulative physical progress under PMAY-G (as on 07.08.2025) (Units in Nos.) S.No States/UTs Target allocated by Houses Houses Ministry Sanctioned by the Completed States/UTs 1 ARUNACHAL 35,937 35,591 35,591 PRADESH 2 ASSAM 29,87,868 28,88,011 20,77,817 3 BIHAR 50,12,752 49,02,754 38,43,375 4 CHHATTISGARH 26,42,224 23,81,067 15,08,943 5 GOA 257 254 242 6 GUJARAT 9,02,354 8,29,340 6,03,372 7 HARYANA 1,06,460 74,937 41,173 8 HIMACHAL 1,21,502 97,535 37,364 PRADESH 9 JAMMU AND 3,36,498 3,34,771 3,13,878 KASHMIR 10 JHARKHAND 20,12,107 19,39,824 15,72,485 11 KERALA 2,32,916 76,238 34,380 12 MADHYA PRADESH 57,74,572 49,40,230 38,81,246 13 MAHARASHTRA 43,70,829 41,03,400 14,02,311 14 MANIPUR 1,08,550 1,01,549 56,711 15 MEGHALAYA 1,88,034 1,85,763 1,50,086 16 MIZORAM 29,967 29,959 25,323 17 NAGALAND 48,830 48,747 36,238 18 ODISHA 28,49,889 28,10,721 24,26,175 19 PUNJAB 1,03,674 76,689 41,740 20 RAJASTHAN 24,97,121 24,32,356 17,53,137 21 SIKKIM 1,399 1,397 1,393 22 TAMIL NADU 9,57,825 7,42,923 6,47,487 23 TRIPURA 3,76,913 3,76,272 3,71,295 24 UTTAR PRADESH 36,85,704 36,56,195 36,38,625 25 UTTARAKHAND 69,194 68,534 68,218 26 WEST BENGAL 45,69,423 45,69,032 34,19,593 27 ANDAMAN AND 3,424 2,593 1,302 NICOBAR 28 DADRA AND 11,206 10,777 5,031 NAGAR HAVELI 29 DAMAN AND DIU 158 158 42 30 LAKSHADWEEP 45 53 45 31 PUDUCHERRY - - - 32 ANDHRA PRADESH 2,47,114 2,46,930 88,995 33 KARNATAKA 9,44,140 5,20,862 1,58,520 34 TELANGANA - - - 35 LADAKH 3,004 3,004 3,004 Total 4,12,31,890 3,84,88,466 2,82,45,137 ***** Page 9 of 9