Somasekhar

generating activities with a group approach. The DWCRA programme encourages

the habit and thrift and saving among the targeted women. It also provides its

beneficiaries access to various basic services such as education, health, nutrition,

childcare, sanitation and so on. However, the aim objective of this programme is

to provide the women greater access to institutional credit particularly, the banks

for meeting their productive as well as consumption needs.

Ganga Kalyan Yojana (GKY) and Million Wells Scheme (MWS) started in the

year 1999 with the objective of providing irrigation through exploitation of ground

water (Bore wells and Tube wells) to individuals and groups belonging to poor,

small and marginal farmers. However, all the above six programmes namely IRDP,

TRYSEM, DWCRA, SITRA, GKY, and MWS merged into a single programme

in 1999 and called Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). The basic

objective of the SGSY is to bring the assisted poor families (Swarozgars) above

the poverty line by providing then income-generating assets through a mix of bank

credit and governmental subsidy.

Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) was launched in September 2001,

by merging Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) and Employment Assurance

Scheme (EAS). The objective of the Scheme is to provide additional wage

employment along with food security, creation of durable assets, social and

economic assets and infrastructure development in rural areas.

Wage and Self-employment programmes-Impact on rural poverty

Due to the implementation of several wage and self-employment programmes

there was declining trend in rural poverty. Rural development has been confined

to a direct attack on poverty through special employment programmes. As there is

a reduction of total poverty in the country there is also reduction in rural poverty

in all states of the country. As per (Table 1) that all India level rural poverty is

reduced from 56.44% in 1973-74 to 53.07% in 1977-78 and 39.09% in 1987-88

and further declined to 37.27% in 1993-94 and 27.09% in 1999-2000. However,

there has been slight increase to 28.03 in 2004-05. Similarly in almost all states

there exists a declining trend.

Table 1. Percentage of People Below the Poverty Line : Rural Areas

Sr.

1973-

1977-

1983-

1987-

1993-

1999-

States

2004-

No.

1974

1978

1984

1988

1994

2000

2005

Andhra

1.

48.41

38.11

26.53

20.92

15.92

11.05

11.02

Pradesh

Arunachal

2.

52.68

59.82

42.60

39.35

45.01

40.04

22.30

Pradesh

418