Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan

The government restructured the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) on 24 April 2018 on the occasion of the National Panchayati Raj Day. The RGSA aims to strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in convergence with Mission Antyodaya. It emphasises strengthening PRIs in 117 aspirational districts.

Objectives of RGSA

• To develop governance capabilities of PRIs for delivering on the SDGs.
• To enhance the capabilities of Panchayats for inclusive local governance with convergence with other schemes and focus on optimum utilisation of available resources to address national importance issues.
• To enhance the capabilities of Panchayats to increase their sources of revenue.
• To strengthen Gram Sabhas for functioning effectively as the forum of transparency, accountability and people’s participation within the Panchayat system.
• To promote devolution of responsibilities and powers to Panchayats according to the PESA Act 1996 and the spirit of the Constitution.
• To develop a network of institutions to support hand-holding and capacity building for PRIs.
• Strengthening institutions to enhance the capacity of PRIs at different levels and enable them to achieve the required quality standards in human resources, infrastructure and outcome-based training.
• For promoting e-governance and other technology-driven solutions to enable governance in Panchayats for improved service delivery and administrative efficiency.
• To incentivise and recognise PRIs based on performance.

Coverage of RGSA

The RGSA extends to every state and Union Territory (UT). Panchayats include rural local government institutions in non-part IX areas. 

Focus Area of RGSA

To ensure the following:

• Capacity building of Elected Representatives (ERs) with priority to Mission Antyodaya and aspirational districts clusters.
• Strengthening of the Panchayats and Self Help Groups (SHGs) partnerships.
• Basic orientation training for the ERs of Panchayats within six months of their election.
• Refresher training to the ERs of Panchayat within two years.

To bridge gaps in:

• Gram Panchayat infrastructure.
• Capacity Building and Training (CB&T).
• Institutional support for innovations.
• Use of IT for distance learning and e-enablement of Panchayats.
• Technical support, including Human Resources (HR), based on identified gaps.
• Gap-filling support of economic development and income enhancement.
• To promote the provision of adequate manpower at the Grama Panchayat level and provide support for technical manpower.
• To provide hand-holding support by academic institutions or institutions of excellence to Grama Panchayat for Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) formulation.
• To facilitate Public Finance Management System (PFMS), Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) and geotagging of Gram Panchayats assets.
• To support the e-enablement of Panchayats for e-governance and enhance transparency and efficiency with thrust on Panchayat Enterprise Suite (PES) applications developed by the Ministry.

Components of RGSA

The RGSA consists of central and state components. The central component includes:

• National-level activities, such as the National Plan for Technical Assistance (NPTA) and National Project Management Unit (NPMU), collaboration with educational institutions or institutes of excellence of the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) and PR Hyderabad for several activities of training and capacity building for PRIs.
• Mission Mode Project (MMP) on e-Panchayat.
• Promotion of Panchayats.

The state component relates to activities undertaken by the state governments for training, capacity building and other activities to enhance the Panchayats, such as: 

• Training and creation.
• Human resource support for training and infrastructure.
• Strengthen Gram Sabhas in PESA areas.
• Distance education facility through Satellite Communications (SATCOM).
• Technical support to PRIs.
• Support to innovations.
• Analysis and financial data.
• Panchayat Bhavan.

Benefits of RGSA

The RGSA helps more than 2.78 lakh rural local bodies. About 60 lakh functionaries, stakeholders and elected representatives of rural local bodies, including traditional bodies, will be direct beneficiaries of RGSA. The following are the benefits of RGSA:

• Enhanced capabilities of Panchayats for the attainment of SDGs and good governance through transparency, democratic decision-making, participatory local planning and accountability.
• Increased usage of technology-driven solutions and e-governance at the Panchayat level for attaining improved service delivery, administrative efficiency and greater accountability.
• Building an institutional structure for capacity building at the state, national and district levels with adequate facilities, infrastructure and human resources.

Funding Patterns of RGSA

The sharing pattern between the central and state component is in the ratio of 60:40. The sharing pattern in the North Eastern States and Hilly states is in the ratio of 90:10. In all UTs, the central government funds 100%.

During 2018-19, the government approved the Annual Action Plans (AAPs) of 32 states/UTs under the RGSA and released Rs.598.21 crore to the states/UTs and implementing agencies. During 2021-22, the government approved the AAPs of 33 states/UTs. It released an amount of Rs.547.411 crore for undertaking the approved activities, including training and capacity building of ERs and other stakeholders.