Shah selects 5 Gujarat villages under 'Saansad Adarsh Gram' scheme

Union Home Minister Amit Shah selected five villages in Gujarat under PM's 'Saansad Adarsh Gram' scheme. As per the scheme, every MP has to adopt a village and develop it into a model village.

Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced the selection of five villages in his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency as part of the 'Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana'.

A statement issued by Gandhinagar Lok Sabha office of Shah informed that Mankol and Modasar in Sanand taluka of Ahmedabad district, Billeshwarpura and Ramnagar in Kalol taluka of Gandhinagar district and Rupal in Gandhinagar taluka have been chosen.

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The villages have historic and local significance and the MP would work for infrastructure and overall development, the statement added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheme for development of villages has not made any perceptible impact or achieving its desired purpose and, therefore, it should be reviewed, a performance audit by the Rural Development Ministry has suggested.

The Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) was announced by PM Modi in his first Independence Day speech as prime minister on August 15, 2014. As per the scheme, every MP has to adopt a village and develop it into a model village, which was launched on October 11, 2014, in its five phases.

According to sources, many MPs, including some ministers, have not adopted villages in either one or more phases so far.

The Centre had constituted a common review commission (CRM) for performance audit to evaluate the proper implementation and effectiveness of various welfare schemes under the Rural Development Ministry.

Even in villages adopted by MPs under this scheme, they did not allocate enough funds from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).

The 31-member CRM team, led by retired IAS officer Rajeev Kapoor, and comprises of academicians and research organisations as members. It visited 120 villages in 21 districts across eight states in November.

The commission reviewed all welfare schemes under the Rural Development Ministry and had given suggestions for better implementation.

(With inputs from PTI)