Interna tional Jo urna l o f Applied Research 2015 ; 1 (1 3 ): 775 -7 78

ISSN Print: 2394-7500

ISSN Online: 2394-5869
Impact Factor: 5.2
An overview of policies & schemes of Govt. of India to
IJAR 2015; 1(13): 775-778 promote rural sector & tourism
www.allresearchjournal.com
Received: 12-10-2015
Accepted: 13-11-2015
Dr. Umakant Indolia, Kumar Prasoon
Dr. Umakant Indolia
Co-ordinator, Abstract
Dept. of Tourism India is a country of villages & showcasing the rich rural life art, culture & heritage in villages in
A2-16, Agastya Bhawan responsible manner would be mutually beneficial since tourism & conservation complemented each
Dev Sanskriti other. Tourism growth potential can be harnessed as a strategy for Rural Development. The
Vishwavidyalaya, Shantikunj,
development of a strong platform around the concept of rural tourism is definitely useful for a country
Haridwar-249411,
Uttarakhand, India.
like India, where almost 74% of the population resides in its 7 million villages.
After independence, for the development of rural society, particularly to develop the socio-economic
Kumar Prasoon life of the rural poor, many schemes and programs were launched from time to time .rural tourism
Teaching Associate, schemes in India envisage encouraging & promoting the villages that have inherent strength in art,
Department of Tourism craft, handloom & textiles. The main purpose is too beneficial the local community economically &
Management Dev Sanskriti socially, diversifying the local development opportunities as well as enable interaction between tourists
Vishwavidyalaya, Shantikunj, & local population for a mutually enriching experience. The promotion of rural tourism is also aimed to
Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. reduce the migration from rural to urban areas. The main focus of Research paper is to present different
schemes of Department of Rural Development, State Governments and other concerned Departments of
the Government of India.

Keywords: Rural, Tourism, Programs, Culture, Community

Introduction
Tourism growth potential can be harnessed as a strategy for rural development. The
development of a strong platform around the concept of rural tourism is definitely useful a
country like India where rural population (% of total population) in India was last measured
at 67.97 in 2013, according to the World Bank. Rural population refers to people living in
rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between
total population and urban population.
Rural tourism has great potential due to a wide variety of nature, culture & special interest
activities. It is a very active sector. Rural development is a process integrated with economic
and social objectives, which must seek to transform rural society and provide a better and
more secure livelihood for rural people. Rural development, therefore, is a process of
analysis, problem identification and the proposal of relevant solutions. This process is
usually encompassed within a programme or a project which seeks to tackle the problem
identified.
Rural development strategies usually take the form of programmes which implement projects
in a specific rural area. Such programmes form the basis of most government and non-
government efforts to assist rural areas, and they include both agricultural and non-
agricultural projects, e.g., maternal and child health programmes. Specialized staff supply the
expertise required, and ministerial or other institutional budgets provide the necessary
financial resources. External aid is also usually channeled into such programmes in the rural
Correspondence areas.
Dr. Umakant Indolia
Co-ordinator, Concepts of rural tourism
Dept. of Tourism the concept of rural tourism has a noble cause, it is another kind of sustainable tourism that
A2-16, Agastya Bhawan
Dev Sanskriti
exploits resources in: rural region causes little or no harmful impact, and generates increasing
Vishwavidyalaya, Shantikunj, benefits to rural areas in terms of rural productivity, employment, improved distribution of
Haridwar-249411, wealth, conservation of rural environment and culture, local people's involvement and a
Uttarakhand, India. suitable way of adapting traditional beliefs and value to modern times.
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Meaning & definition of Rural Tourism fisheries, poultry, and diary are the primary contributors to
To understand the rural tourism, we have to divided rural the rural business and economy. The introduction of Bharat
tourism in two category Nirman, a project by the Government of India in
Rural: National Sample survey Organisation (NSSO) collaboration
Defines Rural Are follows The main objective of rural development has been to remove
 An area with a population density of up to 400 per poverty of the people and fill the widened gap between the
square km. rich and the poor. This has been also vocalized in the policy
 A minimum of 75% of male working population of the government which says: said, ‘Rural poverty
involved in agriculture. alleviation has been the primary concern in the economic
 Villages with clear surved boundries but not municipal planning and development process of the country … rural
board development which encompasses the entire gamut of
improvement in the overall quality of life in the rural areas
Tourism can be achieved through eradication of poverty in rural
 visit to places of interest areas’.
 Travel for recreation, leisure, religious or family for a Keeping in view the planning policy in mind, various
limited duration. schemes of development, especially the development of
agriculture, the main occupation of the rural people, have
Definitions of Rural Tourism been introduced.
 It is done in rural areas, meaning the environment
consisting of natural landscapes, mainly agriculture in A. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna
nature On August 28, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
 Rural tourism brings of people of different culture, faith, launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. This scheme
language and life style close to one another. was announced when he gave his first Independence Day
 Rural tourism provides peace, relaxation and absolute speech on August 15, 2014. This is a prestigious financial
rest. inclusion programme.
 The tourism serves to get away from hectic and stressful
B. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
life in the big city where you can enjoy the vacation.
On 24 September 2014, Prime Minister approved the Swachh
New Trends in Rural Tourism Bharat campaign, which was a modification of the Nirmal
Rural tourism has great potential due to a wide variety of Bharat Programme, launched by the previous Government.
nature, cultural & special interest activities. It is a very active The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched formally on
sector. It has many new forms which are in trends are October 2, 2014, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
follows: The objective is to make India a clean India by 2019, the
150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The plan is to
provide toilet and sanitation facilities in all rural and remote
areas, to create public awareness of cleanliness, to clean
roads, streets, encroachments and make India one of the
cleanest countries of the world.

C. Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna

On October 11, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
launched the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. According to
this Yojana, each MP will take the responsibility of
developing three villages by 2019. The idea is to make
India’s villages to be fully developed with physical and
institutional infrastructure. There are certain guidelines for
this scheme, which has been formulated by the Department
of Rural Development. The Prime Minister released the
Objectives guidelines on October 11, 2014 and requested all MPs to
 To make clear the concept of “Rural Tourism develop one model village by year 2016 in their constituency
 Provide more jobs in rural sector. and two more by 2019.
 Development of the rural areas infrastructure etc.
 Enhancement in the standard of living of the people in Schemes and Policies for development of Rural Sector
rural areas. (A) 20-Point Programme
 To study Govt. projects, schemes and programs of rural This has been a major programme of rural development
tourism & Rural Development. encompassing various aspects of rural people. This
programme is associated with former Prime Minister Indira
Role and function of the Government Gandhi, who introduced it in July 1975 for reducing poverty
The Government's policy and programmes have laid and economic exploitation and for the uplift of weaker
emphasis on poverty alleviation, generation of employment sections of society. She gave the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’
and income opportunities and provision of infrastructure and during parliamentary elections.
basic facilities to meet the needs of rural poor. The Ministry
of Rural Development in India is the apex body for The important goals of this programme were:
formulating policies, regulations and acts pertaining to the 1. Welfare of the rural masses.
development of the rural sector. Agriculture, handicrafts, 2. Increase in rural employment.
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3. Minimum wages to landless labourers. (H) Antyodaya Yojana

4. Uplift of the SC and ST people. The Hindi word ‘Antyodaya’ is a combination of two
5. Growth of housing facilities. words—ant meaning end or bottom level and udaya meaning
6. New programmes of family planning. development. Thus, as a whole, it implies the development or
7. Extension of primary health facilities. welfare of a person standing at the end of the queue (lowest
8. Making primary education more effective. level), that is, the poorest of the poor.
9. Welfare of women and children.
10. Some other programmes—drinking water facilities, (I) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
public distribution system, increasing power production etc. Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS)
It was estimated about 70 per cent of rural population was
(B) Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) still deprived of the basic necessities of life. For the purpose
The programme was launched by the Centre in March 1976 of extending the benefits to rural people, a new scheme was
as a major instrument of the government to alleviate poverty. launched and legislation was enacted under the name
Its main feature was to enable selected families to cross the ‘National Rural Employment Guarantee Act’ (NREGA).
poverty line in a given time-frame by taking up self- This scheme was initially started in 200 districts of the
employment in various activities like agriculture, country from February 2006 and from April 2008, it has been
horticulture, animal husbandry, weaving and handicrafts and extended to cover all the districts of the country. The main
services and business activities. objective of the scheme is to provide 100 days employment
to rural unemployed people. In this scheme, employment to
(C) Training Rural Youths for Self-Employment women is also provided.
(TRYSEM)
This scheme was launched in 1979 to provide technical skills New Policies of Govt. of India
(training) to rural youths (between 18-35 years) living below  Atal Pension Yojna (APY)
the poverty line, to enable them to seek employment in fields  Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
of agriculture, industry, services and business activities.  Pradhan Mantri Jeewan Jyoti Beema Yojana (PMJJB)
 Pradhan Mantri Surksha Beema Yojana (PMSBY)
(D) Food for Work Programme (FWP)  Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana
This programme was introduced in 1977 by the then Janata  Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
government with the objective to provide employment to the  Mudra Bank Yojana
unemployed/underemployed village persons during the slack  Garib Kalyan Yojana
season. The wages paid to the workers were in kind, i.e.,
food grains. Some Other Development Schemes
1. Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Sadak Yojana
(E) National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) (PMAGSY)
This is redesigned programme of FWP, planned for creating It focuses on integrated development of 100 villages with a
additional employment opportunities in the rural areas with 50 per cent population of SCs.
the help of surplus food grains. It was started in 1980 as a
part of the Sixth Plan (1980-85). This programme was 2. Bharat Nirman Yojana
especially for those rural people who largely depended on It was launched in 2005 for building infrastructure and basic
wage employment but had no source of income during lean amenities in rural areas. It comprises of six components—
agricultural period. PRIs were actively involved in this rural housing, irrigation, drinking water, rural roads,
programme. electrification and rural telephony.

(F) Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme 3. Indira Awas Yojana

(RLEGP) It is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman Yojana. It
Special schemes were formulated by some states such as was introduced in 1985-86. It aims to help built or upgrade
Maharashtra and Gujarat to provide increasing employment the households of people living under BPL.
opportunities to rural people, especially landless people.
Maharashtra started the Employment Guarantee Scheme 4. Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(EGS) for the unemployed in rural areas. The Gujarat (JNNURM)
government’s scheme provided for unskilled jobs to the It was launched on 3rd December, 2005. The main objective
unemployed workers on different projects. This scheme was of this scheme was fast track development of cities across the
later on merged into JRY along with NREP. country. It was focused especially on developing efficient
urban infrastructure service delivery mechanism, community
(G) Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) participation and accountability of urban local bodies and
This programme came into existence in April 1989 with the other agencies towards citizen.
merger of the NREP and the RLEGP. Under this scheme, it
was expected to provide at least one member of each poor 5. Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY)
family (BPL family) an employment for 50 to 100 days in a This programme was announced in June 2009 with an
year at a work near his/her residence. About 30 per cent of objective to make the country slum-free.
the jobs under this programme were reserved for women.
The scheme was implemented through Village Panchayats. 6. National Rural Health Mission
It was launched to make basic health care facilities accessible
to the rural people.
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7. National Rural Livelihood Mission 10. Kumar Ravi Bhushan. Coastal Tourism & Environment,
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