The Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) was launched in 1978 with the aim of providing employment opportunities and improving living standards for rural families below the poverty line. It provides subsidies and loans for income-generating activities. However, widespread corruption and misuse of funds has been reported, with ineligible individuals and families receiving loans. There is little monitoring of loan recovery. While the intentions of the program are good, its implementation has been undermined by political interference focused on certain constituencies.

1. Integrated Rural Development
Program:- 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 in-
come 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 Develop-
ment 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.

2. 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.
For providing employment opportunities to the poor the Integrated Rural
Development Program had been launched. Besides providing the necessary
subsidies to people below poverty line, this scheme also helps them to enhance their
living standards.
The Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) was launched by the
Government of India during 1978 and implemented during 1980. The aim of the
program is to provide employment opportunities to the poor as well as opportunities
to develop their skill sets so as to improve their living conditions. The program is
considered one of the best yojanas to do away with poverty related problems by
offering those who fell below the poverty line the necessary subsidies in tandem with
employment opportunities.
Objective of IRDP
The objective of Integrated Rural Development Program is to help families who live
below the poverty line to enhance their state of living and to empower the poor by
helping them develop at every level. The program’s objectives are met by providing
productive assets and inputs to its target groups. The assets, which could be in the
primary, secondary or tertiary sector are provided as financial assistance to these
families in the form of government subsidies as well as loans or credit from financial
institutions.
Beneficiaries of the Integrated Rural Development
Program
The beneficiaries of this program are as follows:
 Rural artisans
 Labourers

3.  Marginal Farmers
 Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
 Economically backward classes with an annual income of less that Rs 11,000
Subsidies provided under IRDP
Subsidies are provided to the following people as follows:
 Small farmers (25%)
 Marginal farmers and Agricultural labourers (33.33%)
 SC/ST families and differently abled people (50%)
The maximum amount of subsidy amount has been fixed at Rs 6,000 for SC/ST
families and differently abled people, Rs 4,000 for non DPAP and non DDP localities
and Rs 5,000 for DPAP and DDP localities.
From this group SC/ST candidates, women and differently abled people are
guaranteed subsidies of 50%, 40% and 30% respectively. First priority is also given
to those among this group who have been assigned the ceiling surplus land while the
Green card holders who fall under the category of free bonded labourers and family
welfare programmes are also given first priority.
Implementation of IRDP
The Integrated Rural Development Program is implemented through the
following agencies:
 District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs)
 Block staff at the grassroot level
 State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC) at state level
 Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment (who are responsible for the release
of funds, formation of policies, programme evaluation, monitoring and
guidance)
Integrated Rural Development Program Funding
The Integrated Rural Development Program is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme
funded on a 50:50 basis by the centre and the states. The scheme has been in
operation in all the blocks of the country since the year 1980. Under this scheme

4. Central funds are allocated to states on the basis of proportion of rural poor in a state
to the total rural poor in the country.
Assistance is given in the form of subsidies by the government and term credit
advanced by financial institutions, such as commercial banks, cooperatives and
regional rural banks.
Corruption rules Integrated Rural
Development Programme, loans grossly
misused
.
Welfare and poverty-removal programmes are now a dime a dozen. But the
biggest of them all is the Integrated Rural Development Programme
(IRDP), under which the banks give out loans to hundreds of thousands of
the poor for a wide variety of income-generating schemes. In the last five
years alone, a staggering Rs 3,433 crore have been loaned out in this
fashion.
In Nandsema village in Rajasthan, camels are hardly rare. But when one camel is
sold to 27 different villagers, people might be forgiven for considering it an
updated version of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. It really is no such thing,
however.
This rare proliferation of a single camel is only the magic of the Integrated Rural
Development Programme (IRDP) at work in rural Rajasthan, though not quite the
way it was intended to. Under the IRDP, loans worth Rs 6 lakh are given to every
block (clusters of villages) to be distributed to the 6,000 poorest families.
Villagers are expected to use the money to buy livestock, or for basic
developmental activity which will enable them to better their lives economically.
This may have been achieved to some extent, but the IRDP has also encouraged
corruption and fiddling of the most innovative kind. Thus in Nandsema, 27
villagers received loans to buy camels in the space of four years, but pocketed the
money and passed the camel on in a dizzy merry-go-round.

5. Powered By
The programme, launched in a small way in 1978-79, was extended to all the 5,011
blocks in the country from October 1980. But it has picked up tempo since then,
and compared to an outgo of Rs 448 crore in 1980-81, a stupendous Rs 1,180 crore
was distributed in just one year's time last year - 1983-84.
By any standards, the loans are soft. Families earning less than Rs 3,500 a year (Rs
290 a month) get between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 for a period of three to five years,
at between five and ten per cent interest. No guarantees or securities are sought
from the borrower.

With reports of widespread corruption and massive bungling, it might well be that
a good percentage of the 120 lakh villagers who have benefited from it in the past
four years - receiving loans totalling a staggering Rs 3,433 crore - are fake.
Villagers with a combined family income of under Rs 290 a month alone are
eligible for the loans, but investigation reveals that many of the beneficiaries are
obviously well-off. In Mahua village, for instance. one of the beneficiaries of a
loan, Mohan Bhagirath Khati, owns 30 bighas of land and a tractor.
Some villagers have shown a remarkable ability to get loans sanctioned. Kalia
Meghwal of Jorma village in Udaipur district is a fairly well-to-do farmer. He
managed to get loans' to buy buffaloes twice in the space of two years.
When bank officials, smelling something fishy, drove down to the village, they
found he didn't have even one buffalo. Veterinary doctors are often bribed to
certify that the animal that had been purchased is dead. A bank officer from
Udaipur complains: "There are fake insurance claims. The animal never existed in
the first place, and then it died mysteriously."

6. Besides, to make them eligible for the loan, single unmarried girls have declared
themselves as "family". And in Jakhodkhera village in Haryana, Gurjeet Singh
managed to get a loan despite the fact that he is wealthy enough to own a tractor,
and that his four brothers who constitute his family are also earning.
For those who really want the loan regardless of whether they are eligible or not,
all they have to do is bribe the scrutiny officer - in this case the village sarpanch. In
Jalandhari village, there were complaints that for every loan sanctioned, the
sarpanch took a "cut" of Rs 100. And in Soupra village of Kordi tehsil in Bhilwara,
a rich villager said: "The poor in my village will remain poor because they never
manage to get the loans."
With so much money involved, the scheme has inevitably acquired a political
colour. In Rajasthan, as elsewhere, it is being touted as a major achievement of the
ruling party, and is being pushed through with such enthusiasm that the state
crossed the target in 1982-83 by advancing loans to 1.83 lakh families.
Interestingly, if the norms of the IRDP are considered to be scrupulously followed
in Rajasthan, then Bhilwara district is the poorest in the state, since it has the
highest number of loanees - Bhilwara also happens to be where most of
Mandalgarh, the constituency of Chief Minister S.C. Mathur, falls.
A bank officer at Mandalgarh says disgustedly: "We are approached by arrogant
villagers who claim to have connections with the chief minister. They even
threaten us with transfer if we refuse to give the loans."
While Rajasthan, a backward state, might deserve attention, the manner in which
IRDP funds are freely available in prosperous Haryana is astonishing. Haryana
started out with 87 blocks two years ago, but now has 93 blocks. As a
consequence, its share of the IRDP cake has increased by Rs 36 lakh, since each
block is allotted Rs 6 lakh for distribution.
It is hardly surprising that last year an additional block was created in Adampur,
the constituency of Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. Thus, his voters now get

7. an additional Rs 6 lakh to be spent in a year. A visit to Jakhodkhera village in the
constituency shows where at least some of the money is going.
Its well-laid brick houses and TV antennae could easily put it on a tourism poster
touting the attractions of the state. Yet as many as 58 villagers of this one village
have been identified as being among the poorest in the country, receiving a
whopping Rs 1.2 lakh in just eight months. Official records show that loans for at
least 24 buffaloes, 26 camels and 60 sheep have been given in this village, but a
visit to Jakhodkhera shows no trace of these animals.
Mysteriously, in Haryana, a new scheme is afoot to benefit villages that have
already been covered under the IRDP, instead of extending the benefits to other
villages. In Hissar district, a scheme tagged "Priority II" is being taken up with
great enthusiasm.
Of the 40-odd villages in Bhajan Lal's constituency, 30 are being covered under the
new scheme which envisages an intensive follow-up of the schemes already taken
up in the IRDP. Coincidentally, 23 villages in the constituency of Congress(I)
MLA I.S. Nain in Burwala also enjoy the benefits of the Priority II scheme.
However, an official of the Planning Commission which monitors the IRDP was
mystified: "What is Priority II?" he asked. "I have never heard of it." Significantly,
this new scheme is being taken up in the election year.
Officials in Delhi concede that there may
be some bungling, but say that measures
like branding the animal - if the loan has
been given for the purchase of livestock
- might help. But, in reality, that is no
help.
For instance, Mohar Singh of Saikhpur
village (Darauli block, Haryana)
received a loan to buy a camel. The
records show that his camel was branded
Jakhodkhera's well-laid brick houses and TV
antennae could easily put it on a tourism map.
Yet 58 of its villagers have been identified as
being among the poorest in the country.

8. with the number HC 254. But a visit to Singh's house shows the camel bears no
such number. Confronted with the fact, he brings a metal token which bears
another number altogether, and lamely explains that he "exchanged his camel".
On their part, bank officials privately admit that they have no way of verifying the
loans. This falls to the lot of the District Rural Development Agency, which is the
identification agency. Bank officials say that if they complain or raise objections to
a loan, they are accused of putting
"obstacles in the way of progress".
Strangely enough for a scheme into which
as much as Rs 3,433 crore has been sunk,
the quality of monitoring is almost non-
existent. So far there has been no
comprehensive study on the recovery of
loans, considering that most loans are for
a maximum of five years, and six years
have passed since the scheme was first
introduced.
S.D. Bansal, general manager of the Punjab National Bank, who coordinates his
bank's efforts in the programme, explains cautiously that the fact that loans are
given without taking into account the problems of the borrower, accounts for the
poor recovery.
He adds: "There is usually a bunching of applications as the end of the financial
year approaches. At times, bank managers have to deal with 30(M00 cases, as a
result of which the quality of loaning suffers."
Although no authoritative investigation of recoveries has been made yet, a sample
survey indicates that while in Lucknow it is as low as 28 per cent, in Ajmer the
recovery is 70 per cent.
Gurjeet Singh managed to get a loan despite
the fact that he is wealthy enough to own a
tractor and his four brothers, who constitute
his
family, are also earning.

9. The only solution, say bank officials, is
to make district authorities more
accountable. "For the moment the banks
are saddled with the problem of loan
recovery which they are competent to
take up, but their efforts would receive a
fillip if the district authorities also
helped," says an official.
Because the IRDP is a welfare
programme, officials are inclined to take
a lenient view of loan recovery. Says one official: "It is the quality of loaning we
have to see. Have we actually raised the standard of living of the poorest of the
poor?"
Unfortunately, the manipulations of politicians in their own constituencies have
ensured that even with the IRDP, as with many other welfare programmes, some of
the rural poor are more equal than others.
Mewat region is one of the most backward areas of the country. It lags behind in almost all socio-economic
and development parametres. It has low levels of literacy, employment, population control, infant and
maternal mortality, maternal health and malnutrition. Women suffer from discrimination and are not given
enough opportunity to assert themselves.
The Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) run by Sukarya, contributes to creating a model or
ideal village that has refined socio-economic conditions and then, replicating the success in other far-
reaching areas.
The adage, “India lives in its villages” guides this integrated intervention that aims to improve maternal
and child health, nutrition of infants and children and overall hygiene and sanitation. It reaches out to rural
women with a view to empower them by enhancing their livelihood options. Building capacities of youth
and community members, it links them to government schemes and services such as NRHM, JSY, NRLM,
PMJDY, SJGSY, IRDP, PMAGY, SBA, health and ICDS. Regular training, IEC and BCC activities and
other campaigns help improve knowledge and awareness levels while promoting healthy behaviours and
practices.
With a focus on women, children and youth, the first project was implemented in Mangar village,
Faridabad district, with the help of the Bird Group in the year 2011. The success of this project (design and
model) was replicated in the three remote and underdeveloped villages of Neemli, Palasli and Lapala of
Tijara block in district Alwar of Rajasthan in December 2015 for a period of three years. The total
population covered under the IRDP programme was approximately 15,000. During this period, several
activities were rolled out. While some were one-off events, most were regular and ongoing interventions.
Health clinics were organised with few coinciding with the government Routine Immunization camps.
Health awareness sessions were held with different groups, commemorating special days. Home visits and
patient follow-up by Community Health Workers helped take up issues related to nutrition, sanitation,
hygiene and immunization. Village level committees were set up to drive home key messages. Women
Records show that Mohar Singh's camel was
branded with the number HC 254. But a visit
to his house shows his camel bears no such
number.

10. self help groups were formed and strengthened with guidance on skill-based trainings and income
generation /livelihood activities. Youth were reached out through vocational centres (Computer and
English classes), training on life skills and personality development, setting up of youth clubs and
developing the cadre of youth volunteers. Training and capacity building sessions for PRIs and
government frontline workers was also taken up.
Broadly, the IRDP intervention is categorised into four thematic areas:
Focus area 1: Basic primary services
These basic primary services are being provided through health clinics and setting up of vocational training
centres that impart computer and English classes along with life skills for the youth. It also entails forming
and strengthening SHGs, providing skill-based training to rural women and promoting income generation
activities for them.
Focus area 2: Behaviour Change Communication
Awareness and sensitisation of the community is an ongoing process that creates greater awareness and
proactive action towards maternal and child health, preventive measures for health, nutrition, hygiene and
sanitation. Regular campaigns against open defecation, taking up of gender related issues and
environmental concerns are other domains where continuous advocacy is undertaken.
Focus area 3: Safe drinking water
Helping communities make the connect between safe drinking water and health, Sukarya has dedicated
itself to providing safe drinking water in Government schools, ensuring regular water supply to girl’s
toilets and for the purpose of community drinking in the village.
Focus area 4: Capacity building of PRIs
Efforts are being made to link government schemes such as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM),
Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY), Swarna Jayanti Gram SwarozgarYojna (SJGSY), Pradhan Mantri Aadarsh
Gram Yojna (PMAGY), School Based Assessment (SBA) and Integrated Child Development Scheme
(ICDS), amongst others to the community. Formation and activation of village level committees like the
Village Health and Sanitation committee, Village Education committee and Village Environment
committee are also a step in this direction.
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