CHAPTER–III

RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES IN

ANDHRA PRADESH

Introduction

Andhra Pradesh is fifth populous and fourth largest state in India,

spreading over an area of 2,76,75,459 Kms sharing common boundaries with

Madhya Pradesh and Orissa to the North, the Bay of Bengal to the East, Tamil

Nadu and Karnataka to the South and Maharashtra to the West. The state also

forms a major link between the north and south India1.

Andhra Pradesh being one of the most developing states has been making

rapid strides in growth and welfare programmes since its formation

(1st November, 1996). Rural development has become most important agenda of

all successive governments in Andhra Pradesh to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and

growing unemployment2. The concept of Rural Development has undergone many

changes depending upon the requirement of the people based on the socio,

economic and political guiding principles. Geographically speaking the state

comprises of eight districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, five districts of

Rayalaseema region and ten districts of Telangana region covering a total of 23

districts. The rich rivers in the state for irrigation are Krishna, Godavari,

1
Andhra Pradesh, “Making Rapid Strides Growth and Welfare”, The Indian Express,
Ahmedabad Edition, 30th December, 2000, pp.1-2.
2
“Rural Development Policy in Andhra Pradesh – A Profile of Rural Development
Programmes”, Published by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Andhra
Pradesh, 2006, pp.33-42.
82
Tungabhadra, Bheem, Manjeera, Penna and other perennial small rivers are the

greatest asset for agriculture3.

Schemes of Rural Development

Rural development and welfare programmes in Andhra Pradesh are shaped

by many complex interacting environmental forces. In view of enormity and

urgency of rural problems, the state government has initiated developmental

programmes which led to the creation of plethora of new institutions for balanced

upward change. Andhra Pradesh government being committed to the

implementation of Rural Development Programmes believed in development

through Five Year Planning. The growth and welfare schemes for sustainable

development of the rural poor are mentioned below:

1. Support to agriculture farmers, viz.: Supply of improved seeds,

fertilizers, pesticides, agro implements, providing technical know-how,

minimum support price for the farmers, free power supply to the

agriculture, marketing facility, etc.

2. Irrigation facility: Sufficient water supply through irrigation projects,

construction of dams – canals, CI wells, bore wells, drip irrigation, lift

irrigation facility, etc.

3. Improving Primary Education: Improving primary education by

introducing new schools in backward villages, starting social welfare

hostels separately for boys and girls, improving hostel facilities,

3
Dwarakanath, H.D., “Rural Development Policy and Programme Implementation – An
Evaluation”, Social Action – A Social Action Trust Publication, Oct-Dec., 1995, Vol.45, No.4,
New Delhi, pp.27-32.
83
 introduction of Ashram schools, Navodaya schools in backward districts,

improving the quality of education by recruiting qualified, experienced

teachers, encouraging Sarva Siksha Abhiyan scheme for school dropouts.

4. SC & ST Welfare Programmes: Free distribution of surplus land to the

SC & ST farmers for sustainable development. Distributing free house site

pattas, farm loan through SC & ST Corporations, Employment

opportunities to generate economic activity to the rural poor. The state

government has allocated 16.2% of its annual budget for the development

of SC, ST students in the education field to complete higher education.

5. Women and Child Welfare Programmes: Introduction of Anganwadi

School, supply of nutritious food to the children and pregnant women,

establishing Integrated Child Development Agency, Mahila Mandals,

Bridge Schools for girl student dropouts.

6. Empowerment of Women Groups: Empowerment of Rural Women,

formation of DWCRA, Self-Help Groups, Vocational training programmes

for rural women, Income generating activity, Training for rural women,

Lending of Bank loans to DWCRA Groups.

7. Rural Youth Welfare: Providing library facilities, formation of youth

clubs in villages to provide skill oriented vocational training programme.

Computer training facility – encouraging rural sport meet programme, self-

employment income generating schemes for rural youth, TRYSEM,

CMRY, Gramodaya, sufficient financial assistance to implement these

programmes.

84
 8. MGNREGP: Under this particular scheme wage earning scheme to the

unskilled village labourers, 100 to 120 days employment programme to the

family couple through formation of roads, agriculture, watershed

programmes and rural housing scheme.

9. Rajiv Gruhakalpa Scheme: Construction of Rajiv Rural Housing Scheme

for the weaker and backward class community on a large scale, involving

rural women in housing construction, Bank loan facility for housing

programme.

10. Watershed Development: Drought Relief Development Scheme in 12

districts of Andhra Pradesh under water shed scheme is being introduced

on the recommendation made by CH. Hanmanth Rao Committee4.

Rural Development under Five Year Plans

The Andhra Pradesh government is committed to formulate various

priorities on rural development during successive five year plans. The prominent

being the community development programme for the upliftment of rural poor.

The central and state governments have launched many special schemes and anti

poverty programmes to achieve qualitative improvement of the rural poor.

Ever since the formation of Andhra Pradesh (1956), the government has

introduced several Rural Development Programmes to help the rural poor through

4
Dwarakanath, H.D., 1995, Op.Cit, pp.27-32.
85
welfare programmes. The priority schemes of rural development under five year

plans are enlisted below5:

Table-3.1
Five Plan Periods
Plan & Period Priority Schemes of Rural Development Year of
introduction
I Five Year Plan Community Development and National Extension 1952
(1941-56) Programme to achieve Rural Development
Distribution of Land to the Tiller Agriculture 1955
Development Programme
II Five Year Plan Khadi Village Industries, Land Reforms, Panchayati 1957
(1956-61) Raj, Decentralized Planning, Growing importance to
Gram Panchayats and Block
Khadi Village Industries, Land Reforms 1957
Panchayat Raj, Decentralized Planning 1959
Growing importance to Gram Panchayats and Blocks 1960
III Five Year Plan Applied Nutrition Programme 1962
(191-66) Intensive Agriculture Area Development Programme 1964
Green Revolution in the field of Agriculture 1962
High Yielding Variety of Agri Development 1966
Farmers Training and Education Programme 1966
Rural Works Programme 1967
Tribal Development 1968
IV Five Year Hill Area Development Programme 1970
Plan (1969-74) Small Farmers Development Agency 1971
Intensive Rural Employment Programme 1972
Minimum Needs Programmes 1974
Command Area Development 1974
V Five Year Plan Hill Area Development Programme 1975
(1974-79) Food for Work Programme 1975
Rural Housing Programme 1976
Rural Youth Self Employment Training Programme 1978
Integrated Rural Development Programme 1979
VI Five Year National Rural Employment Generation Programme 1980
Plan (1980-85) 20 point Economic Programme 1980
Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas 1983
Tribal / Adivas School Development and Welfare 1984
Programme
VII Five Year Indira Awas Yojana 1985
Plan (1985-90 Rural Landless Employment Programme 1985
Jawahar Rojgar Yojana 1989
Million Well Scheme Programme 1989
Technology Development in Rural Areas 1988-89
Vocational Computer Training Programme to the Rural 1986
Youth
Skill Oriented Training for School going Children 1987
Transformation of Rural Technology through Mass 1988

5
“Rural Development and Five Year Plans”, Kurukshetra, New Delhi, April, 1997.
86
 Media
VIII Five Year New Liberalization and Globalization Policy under 1992
Plan (1992-97) PVN Rao
Sustainability of Rural Infrastructure with Newly 1992
formed Economy
Sustainability of Rural Infrastructure with Newly 1992
formed Economy
Encouraging Rural Entrepreneurs under Privatization 1993
Policy
Developing Minor Irrigation and Social Forestry in the 1993
State
Janma Bhoomi – Participation of Rural People in Rural 1995
Development Programme
Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana 1996
Prajala Vaddaku Palana (Administration at the Door 1995
Step of Rural Poor – Janma Bhoomi Programme).
IX Five Year Empowerment of Rural Women and Income 1996
Plan (1997-2002) Generating Activities
Micro Finance – Lending of Bank Loan on Easy 1991-2000
Installments to take up economic activity
Rural Housing scheme for the Weaker Sections viz., 1991
SC, ST & BCs
Old Age Pensions to the Village Elderly Persons not 1996
able to earn livelihood – Widow Pensions – Pensions
to the Disabled
X Five Year Plan Common Minimum Needs Programme 2003
(2002-2007) Improving Public Distribution System 2004
Financial Assistance to Handloom Weavers Society 2004
Distribution of Agriculture Tools to the Small Farmers 2005
Remunerative Price to the agriculture Products 2006
Free Power Supply to Agriculture Pump Sets during 2002
YSR Regime
XI Five Year Indira Kranthi Pathakam 2004
Plan (2007-2012) National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme 2007
Old Age Pensions to the Rural Poor 2008
Abhaya Hastham Scheme 2007
Pension Insurance Scheme for Rural Women 2008
Integrated Land Development Programme 2008
Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty 2007
Purchase of Land and Land Access to the Landless 2004
Agriculture Labourers
Andhra Pradesh Smart Card Project 2006
Rajiv Arogya Sri Health Scheme for Rural Poor 2004

Source: Rural Development Action Plan, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Andhra
Pradesh, 2008.

87
Rural Development – Budget Estimate and Expenditure in Andhra Pradesh –

2006 to 2012.

Rural Development Programmes and its implementation is mainly depends

on available human resources. Every year the state government is introducing

several schemes on priority basis to achieve rural development. Every year budget

estimates on rural development is increasing depending on the requirements of the

rural population. Innovative welfare programmes are introduced by the state

government to meet the immediate requirements of rural poor.

The table given below indicates the budget estimates incurred on Rural

Development Programmes in Andhra Pradesh from 2006-04 to 2011-126.

Table-3.2
Total Expenditure on Rural Development Programmes
Period from 2006-07 to 2011-12

Year Expenditure on Total Annual Percentage of

Rural Budget Expenditure on Rural
Development Development

2006-07 1456.67 18208.98 8.00

2007-08 1448.09 27170.79 6.80

2008-09 2731.11 30617.68 8.90

2009-10 2887.90 33337.98 8.60

2010-11 3861.84 36727.90 11.60

2011-12 3880.80 36940.20 11.80

Source: Rural Development Action Plan, Ministry of Rural Development,

Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2012.

6
“Rural Development – Action Plan”, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Andhra
Pradesh, 2010.
88
 The table given above (table-3.2) reveals that the budget for Rural

Development has substantially increased from Rs. 1456.67crores in 2006-07 to

Rs. 3880.80 crores in 2010-12 budgets. This indicates that Rural Development

Programme has been identified as top priority of the Government. In the total

annual budget a major portion is diverted towards Rural Development

Programmes.

Land Purchase and Land Access for the Poor

Designed with the aim of enabling and supporting the poor in getting

enhanced access to land, Indira Kranthi Pathakam’s land component has come up

a long way expanding from initial land purchase activities to land access activities

positioning sensitive support mechanism for the poor. Along with empowering

5303 women to purchase good quality irrigated lands, land issues pertaining to

184249 poor covering 182670.95 acres have got settled so far in convergence with

the Revenue Department. Over a period of time, land reforms have taken a back

seat and still remain an unfinished agenda. Suffering from other traits of poverty

like lack of voice, bargaining power, access to knowledge etc., the poor are also

suffering from lack of access to secured title or possession over land. Recognizing

land as a critical resource for the poor during the formulation of Andhra Pradesh

Rural Poverty Reduction Project, the land component in Indira Kranthi Patham

was sanctioned with an outlay of Rs. 52.6 crore. The land component of Indira

Kranthi Patham has been working in two directions. One is Land Purchase i.e.

securing the poor and enabling access to productive lands through facilitating

purchase of good quality irrigated lands. The other is land access by facilitating

89
the poor in convergence with the Revenue Department, to have control over their

land in terms of having secured title, handling their lands locked in courts /

disputes, awareness as to the measures taken by the Government to protect the

interests of the poor manifested in the form of pro-poor enactments etc.

The objective of land purchase is to see that the poor become proud owners

of productive lands. Hence, the focus is on facilitating the land less poor to

purchase productive irrigated lands alone.

Salient features

 Purchase process totally community driven.

 The VOs play a leading role in identifying the lands, negotiating rates, etc.

 Lands are registered in the names of women only.

 Stamp and Registration fee and transfer duty have been exempted by the

Government for the lands purchased.

Coverage of the Scheme

The land purchase activity has been taken up in 190 villages of 128

mandals in the state where demand had come from the poor women for purchase

of lands. Between 2004 and 2009 about 4539.24 acres of land have been

purchased by 53403 landless poor women with an investment of Rs. 2937.45

lakhs in these 190 villages covering 90% of the beneficiaries belong to vulnerable

sections like SCs and STs.

90
 Table.3.3
Details of Purchase of Land and Expenditure
Year No. of Acres Purchased Expenditure in Crores
in Hectares
2006-07 0 0

2007-08 639.11 219.13

2008-09 1924.59 1181.31

2009-10 1335.12 947.37

2010-11 506.440 441.08

2011-12 134.02 148.56

Total 4539.24 2937.45
Source: “Land Purchase and Land Access for the Rural Poor”, Society for Elimination
of Rural Poverty, Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh,
Hyderabad, 2012.
Table-3.4
Caste wise Beneficiaries
SC ST BC Others Total
2799 1979 393 132.00 53403.00

Best Practices

The beneficiaries are the poorest of the poor landless belonging to

vulnerable sections often working as labourers on the some lands. Only good

quality productive lands under assured sources of surface irrigation are purchased.

Purchasers could derive immediate incomes.

Impact

The purchasers derive immediate incomes, average net income rangers

from Rs. 7000-14000 per cropping season. Income increased in all the sample

households by 30% to 75% after the intervention.

91
 After the intervention, 76% of them are food secure. It is lesser in other

categories. Due to distribution of land to the poor seasonal migration has come

down and is least among IKP land beneficiaries. As a master of fact there is a

positive shift from child labour to school education and there is an increased

ability to manage expenditure on health7.

Land Access – Enabling Access to Justice for the Poor

Land is the principal source of livelihood for the tribals. This principal

source of livelihood is under threat from non-tribals. To prohibit transfer of lands

in favour of non-tribals, Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Areas Land Transfer

Regulation Act was enacted in the year 1959 and subsequently amended in 1970,

1971 and 1978.

The tribals are not able to access justice due to factors like lack of legal

awareness, absence of legal supports, alien adjudicatory system, adversarial

adjudicatory system adopted from the British, administrative machinery being

handicapped, voice of tribals not being heard and lack of access to government

records.

Accordingly, the land access activity was scaled up in two phases in

October-November, 2006 and 2007 to cover 400 plus mandals in the state. The

government has issued guidelines for putting in place this support mechanism

vide GO Ms. No. 312 and 313, dated 07-07-2006. In the meantime, the Mandal

Samakhyas and Zilla Samakhya have not only hired the services of people with

7
“Land Purchase and Land Access for the Rural Poor”, Society for Elimination of Rural
Poverty, Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 2012,
p.9.
92
legal and revenue background but also are training their own community members

in land matters so that they can themselves handle their land problems.

It is multipronged approach where the Samakhyas are also putting in place

support structures like land centres where required information and records are

made available, a panel of lawyers to help them fight out their court cases, a group

of youth from the community trained in survey etc. to handle the issue from all

the angles.

Table-3.5
Details of Purchase of Land and Expenditure
Year No. of Acres Purchased Expenditure in Crores

2005-06 505.09 70.57

2006-07 1924.59 1181.31

2007-08 1335.12 947.37

2008-09 506.40 441.08

2009-10 134.02 148.56

2010-11 132.00 138.12

2011-12 130.20 13013

Total 4667.42 15940.01

Source: “Land Purchase and Land Access for the Rural Poor”, Society for Elimination
of Rural Poverty, Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh,
Hyderabad, 2012.
Table-3.6
No.of Caste wise Beneficiaries (All Women)
SC ST BC Others Total
2662 1947 386 132 5127

Linking banks with SHGs: The bank linkage scheme was initiated in

Andhra Pradesh in 1992-93 with the linkage of 8 SHGs with SBI, Vysya Bank

93
and Sri Anantha Grameena Bank. Due to constant efforts by the government, the

program has gathered momentum only in 1997. All nationalized banks, RRBs and

district Co-operative banks were involved in the programme. In Andhra Pradesh,

7 models of delivering credit to rural poor through SHG system have been

designed. The rate of interest is decided by the banks/financial institutions under

Bank Linkage Programme within the scope of RBI directives. The nationalized

banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks are coming forward to advance

loans to SHGs with lower rate of interest8.

The government of Andhra Pradesh is committed to social and economic

empowerment of women by adopting micro credit as a tool and had taken the

SHG Bank Linkage Program as a mass movement since 1998-99 onwards to

achieve this goal. Various training and capacity building programs have been

conducted on production, packaging, marketing, micro-credit and utilization of

loans etc. In turn, women SHGs have availed loans from banks and other financial

institutions and improved their economic status. During the year 2008-09, Rs.

11037 crores has been targeted as loan mobilization under SHG Bank Linkage

programme and an amount of Rs. 15940.01crores has been mobilized 20129.

Outstanding Achievements

In Andhra Pradesh more than 52% SHGs (DWCRA Groups) were financed

by banks under SHG Linkage. This number is more than the all India figure

excluding that of Andhra Pradesh. About 310488 SHGs were provided repeat

8
Dwarakanath, H.D., “Functioning of Self-Help Groups and Income Generating Activities in
Andhra Pradesh”, Kurukshetra, July, 2006, New Delhi, p.14.
9
Dinesh Narayanan and Udit Misra, “An Agenda for India – A Review of NREGA” – Forbes,
India, Mumbai, March, 2010, p.53.
94
finance by banks during 2008-09 which comes to 75% of total SHGs in the state

of Andhra Pradesh. As per the reports of the bankers, the recovery of loans is

around 95% against 87% when compared with other states.

The SHGs have taken up various income generating activities by availing

themselves of the facility under SHG – Bank Linkage programme and increased

their production to the extent that it supplies to the entire country. Recently the

women SHGs of Nellore and Chittoor districts have got orders for their products

from other countries such as Srilanka, Malaysia, etc.

The SHG women have actively participated in fairs, melas or exhibitions

organized at state, national and international level and are able to market their

products though internet. Well known companies viz., Hindustan Lever Limited,

Food World and Apna Bazaar have come forward to tie up with the SHGs and

market their products.

The issue of extending loans to SHGs under SHG Bank – Linkage

programme since 1998-99 created a path of their economic empowerment. The

income generating activities taken up by the SHGs and access to the banks and

financial institutions attracted the attention of not only other states but at

international level also. Many dignitaries from other states and other countries

visited Andhra Pradesh and appreciated the SHG movement and implementation

of Bank Linkage Programme in Andhra Pradesh. The other state governments are

also taking the practice as a model and sending teams to study the implementation

of the programme with an aim to implement in the same way in their states.

95
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme gives legal guarantee of

providing at least 100 days of wage employment to rural household whose adult

members are willing to do unskilled manual labour. The scheme is being

implemented in all the districts of the state.

1. Coverage of NREGS in different districts in Andhra Pradesh

Table-3.7
Phase wise coverage of NREGA in Andhra Pradesh
Phase-I Districts Phase-II Districts Phase-III Districts
(w.e.f. 02-02-2006 (w.e.f. 01-04-2007 (w.e.f. 01-04-2008
1 Vizianagarm 1 East Godavari 1 West Godavari
2 Chittoor 2 Guntur 2 Krishna
3 Cudapah 3 Kurnool 3 Vishakhapatnam
4 Ananthapur 4 S.P.S Nellore
5 Mahabubnagar 5 Prakasham
6 Medak 6 Srikakulam
7 Ranga Reddy
8 Nizamabad
9 Warangal
10 Adilabad
11 Karimnagar
12 Khammam
13 Nalgonda

2. The programme has been grounded in Andhra Pradesh on a strong

footing with the following non-negotiable

a. Contractors and labour displacing machinery shall not be engaged.

b. Every registered rural household shall be provided not less than 100

days of wage employment in a financial year.

c. Payment of wages shall be made at least once in fortnight

Equal wages shall be paid to men and women. Works approved by the

Gram Panchayat (identified in the Gram Sabha) at village level, the Mandal

96
Parishad at Mandal Level and the Zilla Parishad at District Level only shall be

taken up.

3. Social Audit

Andhra Pradesh is the only state which has established a fully fledged

Social Audit Unit at the state level with exclusive staff. The Unit works

independently and submits its report to government. So far social audit has been

completed in 16548 Gram Panchayats, covering 786 mandals in 19 districts in the

1st round and 188 mandals covered in 2nd round. This is an effective tool to check

corruption and to enhance the accountability to people. So far more than 2001

functionaries have been removed from services or disciplinary actions have been

initiated.

4. Rural Standard Schedule of Rates

Rural Standard Schedule of Rates (RSSR) has been prepared for

conducting work time motion studies. This is a first of its kind initiative in rural

development which ensures earning of minimum wage by workers. About 20%

extra wages are being allowed in summer season keeping in view the increased

fatigue levels of their labour due to high temperature and 30% allowance is also

paid to disabled group throughout the year. The additional allowances increased

to compensate decreased output due to disability. To avoid middlemen and to

make the payments directly to the labourers, wage payments are being made

through individual and Post Office Accounts. So far 123 crore individual accounts

are opened.

97
5. Communication

14 films followed by 20 manuals / hand books on training are produced in

Telugu on NREGS for providing training to various functionaries and

stakeholders.

6. Major initiatives towards livelihood security under NREGS in Andhra

Pradesh is listed below:
a. Indiramma Cheruvulu – Comprehensive restoration of Minor Irrigation

tanks.

b. 15080 tanks are taken up with an estimated cost of Rs. 1778 crores. Out of

which 12667 tanks are in progress. So far Rs. 950 crores has been spent.

About 3003 tanks are fully restored and stabilizing 5.13 lakh acres.

c. Horticulture is taken upon the lands of the poor with 100% subsidy on 2.13

lakh acres at an estimated cost of 678 crores. Ongoing SHM & APMIP

projects are converged in this initiative10.

d. Land Development.

An extent of 4 lakh acres of land lying fallow belonging to SC/ST/BPL

families have been developed. Land leveling, silt application, clearance of bushes,

deep ploughing, etc are some of the activities taken up under land development

scheme11.

10
“An over view of Andhra Pradesh Smart Card Project”, A Report by the Ministry of Rural
Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 2006.
11
“Progress of NREGS in Andhra Pradesh”, Ministry of Rural Development, Government
Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 2009.
98
7. Asset Creation
Table-3.8
Land Development Programme under NREGP in Andhra Pradesh
Sl.No Work Extent/Nos Value (Cr.)
1. Minor Irrigation Tanks in progress 15080 Nos 9.5
2 Land Development 403333 Acres 605
3 Earthen bunding 687444 Acres 310
4 Silt application 253600 Acres 114
5 Feeder channel 76956 Kms 346
6 Horticulture 315237 Acres 253
7 Mini Percolation tanks 56160 Nos 112
8 Percolation tanks 1397 Nos 11
9 Farm pounds 49261 Nos 90
10 Pebble & Stone bunding 203756 Acres 93
11 Roads 2835 Kms 131
12 Restoration and deepening of wells 20000 Nos 14
13 Desilting of canals 45667 KMs 181
14 Diversion drains 27717 KMs 274
15 Filling water logged areas 54000 Acres 54
16 Bio diesel 1000000 Acres 50
Source: Programme Report of NREGP under Land Development Programme in Andhra
Pradesh, 2008-09.
8. Overview of NREGS in Andhra Pradesh is given below
Table-3.9
Overview of NREGS in Andhra Pradesh
Total Job Cards issued 11314057
Total No.of Works sanctioned 1855213
Total value of works administratively sanctioned (in Crores) 17281.98
No.of works completed 524306
Total expenditure (in Crores) 4736.05
No.of households provided wage employment 7224905
Total individual postal accounts (in Crores) 1.21
Total person days generated (in Crores) 47
Total No.of mandals social audit completed 786
2nd Round Mandals 188
Total No.of Grampanchayats social audit completed 16548
Total No.of Minor irrigation tanks (Indiramma Cheruvulu) taken up 15080
Total estimated amount of MI Tanks (in Crores) 1778
Total No.of Indiramma Cheruvulu completed 3005
Total No.of Indiramma Cheruvulu 1310
In 2008-09
No. of households provided wage employment 5556009
No.of individual wage employment provided (in Lakhs) 96.55
Men 47
Women 53
SCs 27
STs 13.4
BCs 48
Others 12
Total person days generated (in Crores) 20.47
Total No.of days employment provided per household 36.84
Average wage rate per day per person 82.33

99
Comprehensive Land Development Project (CLDP)

Land has always been a symbol of dignity and confidence. This is

particularly true for poor farmers. To promote an equitable development process,

Government of Andhra Pradesh had assigned lands to large number of families

belonging to weaker sections. The government has prohibited alienation of the

assigned land by enacting “Prohibition of Alienation of Assigned Lands Act,

1977”. Unless these lands are developed and made productive, they are not of

much use for the livelihoods of the poor. Though several initiatives were taken up

in this direction by the government over the years, the success seems to be

limited. Some of the reasons for this are low investments on agriculture land

development and weak institutional arrangements.

Several experiences from voluntary organizations indicate that livelihoods

of poor families could be strengthened significantly by developing arrangements;

technology and comprehensive financial support are found to be the key elements

of success. Experiences from large scale government supported projects also

indicate that it is important to target poor families and work with them to develop

their asset base. Ensuring food security by adopting sustainable dry land

agricultural practices is the central theme in many of the above experiences. With

this background, government of Andhra Pradesh has conceptualized the

Comprehensive Land Development Project (CLDP) named as “Indira Prabha”12.

12
Comprehensive Land Development Project in Andhra Pradesh –A Progress Report –
Department of Land Revenue, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 2006.
100
Objectives
The main objectives of Comprehensive Land Development Projects are to:

a. Enhance and diversify livelihood options of the poor centred on

comprehensive development of compact blocks of assigned lands and
the lands owned by the poor in tribal regions of the state.
b. Enhance the food, fodder and fuel security of the poor families by
improving the productivity of compact blocks of assigned lands and the
lands owned by the poor in tribal regions of the state.

Department of Rural Development is implementing Comprehensive Land

Development Project (Indira Prabha) under RIDF-IX & X with a financial outlay

of Rs. 599 crores to develop 5.3 lakh acres of assigned land of poor SC, ST & BC

communities. So far, an amount of Rs. 388.52 crores have been released under

both the projects and an expenditure of Rs. 329.59 crores were incurred till date13.

Table-3.10
Details of Land Development Project.
S.No. Item RIDF- RIDF-X RIDF-XIII Total
1 Total project outlay 200.32 Cr. 248.60 Cr. 150.26 Cr. 599 Cr.
2 No.of blocks 3904 4273 2766 10943
sanctioned
3 No.of blocks 3904 4243 1472 9604
grounded
4 Percentage of blocks 99% 99% 53% 88%
grounded
5 Areas of sanctioned 185375 ac. 198490 ac 144956 ac. 528821 ac.
blocks
6 Area developed 171056 173227 - 344283 ac.
7 Releases 388.52 Cr.
8 Expenditure 156.85 Cr. 154.25 Cr. 18.49 Cr. 329.39 Cr.
Sources: Department of Rural Development under Comprehensive Land
Development Project i.e. Indira Prabha, Government of Andhra Pradesh,
Hyderabad, 2005-2006.

13
Poverty Eradication Programme in Andhra Pradesh – A Report, 2002-09.
101
Poverty Eradication Programme: Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction

Project (APRPRP-2002 to 2009)

Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project (APRPRP) was

established with the objective of creating self-managed grass roots institution of

poor and poorest of poor rural women in the state and to improve their

opportunities to meet socio-economic needs. As such, the project is committed to

improve livelihoods and quality of all the rural poor families in the state forming

part of its target groups i.e. Self-Help Groups formed at grass-roots level.

The project objectives are consistent with the World Bank’s Country

Assistance Strategy (CAS) objectives and its program priorities and principles.

CASs built around the Government of India IX Five Year Plan where the

objective is to “Strengthen the enabling environment for development and

sustainable growth and support critical interventions of special benefits to the

poor and disadvantaged”.

Government of Andhra Pradesh has approached the World Bank to provide

financial assistance for eradicating poverty. The World Bank has approved to

finance 114 million XDRs in this endeavour. Component wise allocation of loan

funds (IDA share and Government and Andhra Pradesh share) are us under.

Table-3.11
State showing component wise allocation of APRPRP for the project period
(Rs. In Crores)
S.No. Component Original loan Additional loan
1 Institutional and Human Capital building 174.13 191.6
2 Community Investment Fund 512.93 54.9
3 Supporting Pilot Program 36.77
4 Support People with Disabilities 26%
5 Project Management 95.39 82.8
6 Total Project Cost 844.82 329.3
Source: Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project Report-2002-09.

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Jobs Mission for the Rural Youth

The Jobs Mission: The jobs mission was set up to address the needs of

next generation of large SHG networks created and nurtured by IKP Employment

Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM), Department of Rural Development,

Government of Andhra Pradesh which works in a focused manner to provide

employment / employability for the rural youth.

The Executive Committee of the Mission consists of Hon’ble Minister,

Rural Development, and Senior Government Officers as ex-officio member apart

from the members of the private sector. EGMM is driven by a private sector cell,

which evolves strategy with an eye on the market. The implementation of

program is done with the large government machinery headed by Collectors,

Project Directors, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and Project

Officers, Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDAs in all 22 districts.

Vision: Sustained elimination of poverty of underprivileged Rural Youth, with a

focus on remote areas.

Mission: Employment/employability enhancement of Below Poverty Line (BPL)

Rural Youth through market driven training.

Objective: Articulated by the community, “one job for every poor family”.

Achievements

All trainings are free of cost to benefit the rural unemployment youth, as an

initiative of the government. Based on the impact of the work, the budget has

103
increased from Rs. 10 crores in 2005-06 to Rs. 100 crores in 2007-08. The budget

comes from the State Government Revenue and Interior Areas Development

(RIAD) budget and the Government of India SGSY funds through the DRDAs. In

this connection, 191 training centres have been set up in sectors ranging from

services, construction to textiles, with a focus on tribal and remote areas. About

82000 youth have been trained in the last two and half years and 1000 youth are

currently in the classrooms. 80% of the youth trained have been linked to entry

level private sector jobs. Annual salaries are ranging from Rs. 45,000 upwards in

metros and Rs. 24,000 upwards in semi urban areas.

Jobs for Rural Youth

Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM) was set up to

address the needs of the next generation and aims at to create

employment/employability for the rural/tribal-underprivileged youth. It works in a

public private partnership mode to identify, train and provide placement to youth

in entry level corporate jobs in hospitality, retail, sales, tourism, banking, rural

BPOs, manufacturing textiles and construction sectors. Total number of jobs

created up to 2007-08 are 1,12,435. Placements shown upto end of February, 2009

are 61,156. This programme has become successful in most of the urban areas14.

Health and Nutrition

The major goal of the health and nutrition strategy under the APRPRP is to

operate in convergent mode with the line agencies by looking at gaps in the

14
Jobs Mission for the Rural Youth – A Progress Report of Employment Generation for Rural
Youth, 2009.
104
existing public health and nutrition services that are provided by the line

departments. It is being implemented in 63 mandals including 8 Giriparagathi

mandals covering 2500 village organizations of the state15.

The extensive health and nutrition strategies being adopted across 63

mandals include fixed schedule for regular capacity building of stakeholders at

mandal and district level, institutionalization of the fixed Nutrition and Health

Days (NHDs) in convergence with line departments and regular health savings as

safety nets for health emergencies. The intensive health and nutrition strategies

focus on intensive health CRP strategy. 1000 best practitioners from the pilot

mandals have been identified as health CRPs. Since January 2007, the health

CRPs strategy has been implemented in 680 village organizations and established

680 nutrition cum daycare centres. The impact of peri-natal and neonatal

outcomes among the members attended nutrition cum day care centres shows

98.5% safe deliveries, 87.3% normal deliveries, no low birth weight baby born, no

maternal, infant and neonatal deaths happened in 1700 deliveries occurred among

the members enrolled at 680 nutrition centres16.

Education – Community Based Primary Schools

About 124 Community Managed Pre-Primary Schools are functioning at

Utnoor, Jainur, Siripur (U) and Inderevelly mandals of Adilabad district with an

enrolment of 2600 children in 3-5 age groups. 400 school dropout children

15
Health and Nutrition – Ministry of Medical and Health, Government of Andhra Pradesh, A
Brief Report, 2008.
16
Activities taken up under Education Component – A note on Community Based Primary
Education, Department of School Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2009.
105
enrolled in formal schools and bridge course at Chintor and V.R. Puram mandals.

The project covers three Giripragathi mandals of Chintoor, Kunavaram and V.R.

Puram mandals of Khammam district. 15 pre-primary schools are functioning at

Kothaguda and Gudur mandals of Warangal district. Early Childhood Education

(ECE) centres are now being set up in Ramapachodavaram in East Godavari

district and Parvatipuram in Vizanagaram district. Shodhana training centre

Cheopurupally is providing resource support and also training the instructors.

20 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Centres were started in

Gummalaxmipuram and Kurupam mandals of Vizianagaram district. About 548

young children ages between 2 and 5 years were enrolled in these centres. 560

children were identified in 28 villages of Golgonda and Devarapally mandals of

Vishakhapatnam district in extending the ECE programme. 50 children were

identified in 20 villages of Seethampet and Kothur mandals of Srikakulam district

to enroll in the ECE centres. Exposure visits were arranged for VOs and Members

of MMS of Seethampet and Kothur mandals of Srikakulam district to visit to

Shodhana Training Centre at Cheepurupally in Vizianagaram district. 10 villages

were identified in Khammam district to establish the ECE centres and survey is

completed 10 centres were started in Rampachodavaram of East Godavari district

and 150 children were enrolled in the programme. 22 ECE centres were started in

Gudur and Kothaguda mandals of Warangal district and 400 children were

enrolled in these centres17.

17
Community Migrated Insurance Scheme under India Jeevita Beema Pathakam, Government of
Andhra Pradesh, 2009-10.
106
Community Managed Insurance Scheme

Under insurance initiative, the state government has covered 38.00 lakh

rural landless agricultural labourers under Indira Bima Pathakam (Aam Aadmi

Bima Yojana), 19.51 lakhs under Janasree Bima Yojana and 23.76 lakhs under

other Group Insurance. Total of 81.27 lakhs rural poor persons is covered under

different insurance schemes to create social security among the members of the

SHG and their families.

The government is implementing the insurance schemes with Information

Technology (IT) support to provide quality and timely service to the insured

members. Zilla Samakhyas have established Call Centres in all district head

quarters and solarium of Rs. 5000/- handed over to claimant family members

within 24 hours if death occurred. The Government of Andhra Pradesh and LIC of

India have adopted claim settlement system for the first time in the country to

provide quality and timely service to insured members by positioning BIMA

MITRAs. Besides above, Vishakhapatnam Zilla Samakhyas are managing

‘Sanjeevini’, a community managed Health Insurance Scheme and apart from

managing a Livestock Insurance Scheme known as Loan Protection Scheme

(LPS).

Old Age Pensions

Village organizations in Andhra Pradesh today are the nodal points of

quick and prompt dispersal of old age pensions. This has resulted in more efficient

way of disbursing pensions and has also plugged leakages in pension distribution

107
system. Government is distributing Rs. 200/- on first of every month to old age

persons, weavers, widows and disabled persons. The disabled persons’ pension

has been enhanced from Rs. 200/- to Rs. 500/- from January, 2009. Under

Pensions Programme, Rs. 1149.45 crores is distributed to 66.32 pensions upto

February 201018.

Project Expenditure

Cumulatively the total expenditure of Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP), 2010-

2011 is Rs. 1990.53 crores. Expenditure from the last 5 years is given in the

following table.

Table-3.12
Year wise component wise expenditure (Rs. Crores)
Component 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Total
expenditure
Institutional and 77.01 84.17 125.57 98.10 86.82 528.79
Human Capacity
Building
Community 217.78 177.91 142.00 40.12 77.60 835.86
Investment Fund
Project Management 22.96 23.03 25.23 22.19 24.39 139.12
SPP 0.12 0.15 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.78
SPD 0.74 3.19 6.42 5.96 1.72 18.25
SERP Total 318.61 288.45 299.34 166.45 190.53 1522.80
APSWERIES 89.70 52.00 57.00 36.49 0.00 329.03
Grand Total 408.31 341.25 356.34 202.94 190.53 1851.83

Overall Performance of Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP)

The overall performance of IKP is given in the following table given

below.

18
Functioning of DWCRA Self-Help Groups Impact of Paval Vaddi Initiative, Ministry of Rural
Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2009.
108
 Table-3.13
Overall Performance of IKP as on 2011-12
S.No. Indicator Total expenditure
1 No.of SHGs under the Project 850671.00
2 No.of Members in Women SHGs 10182181.00
3 No.of SHGs of Persons with disabilities 23069.00
4 No.of Persons with Disabilities in SHGs 212888.00
5 No.of Village Organizations formed 35525.00
6 No.of Normal Mandal Samakyas formed 1098.00
7 Total No.of Beneficiaries of Income Generating 2365606.00
Activities
8 No.of Households benefiting from Good Security 2363735.00
9 No.of Acres of Land purchased 4540.24
10 No.of Beneficiary families of Land purchased 5303.00
11 Among of Bank Linkage upto March in 2009 (Rs. In 6682.17
Crores)
Source: Indira Kranthi Patham performance and expenditure in Andhra Pradesh, 2012.

Financial Access and Pavala Vaddi Initiative

To encourage the women’s groups and also to achieve 100% repayment,

the State Government has introduced the PAVALA VADDI Scheme, where in the

government is reimbursing to the members any interest paid by the SHGs over

and above 3% per annum. This has led to significant improvement in loan

repayment. Under this initiatives, 4,75,164 SHGs were given Rs. 52.67 crores

during 2004-05 and in 2005-06. 2,90,825 SHGs were given Rs. 50.02 crores

during 2006-07 and 5,54,359 SHGs were given Rs. 112.30 crores upto March,

2008. During the year upto March 2009, 132.23 crores interest subsidy was given

to 5,66,272 groups. Thus, an amount of Rs. 347.22 crores is given to 1,86,720

109
SHGs (repeated finance) as Pavala Vaddi incentive since inception of the

Scheme19.

Diary Intervention

The dairy activity is a major livelihood opportunity for the rural poor in

Andhra Pradesh. Milk procurement activity was taken up on a pilot basis in

Chittoor, Ananthapur, Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad districts since 2003-04, and

it has helped the milk producers to get better price for milk and promoted

transparency in milk procurement. This also triggered intervention in milk

productivity in the villages. Based on the success evidenced in the pilots, the same

model is replicated in 16 more districts in the state. Bulk Milk Chilling Units

(BMCUs) with a capacity of 2000 to 5000 litres to collect and chill milk to the

desired temperature of 40C, were established in 156 mandals in the state. In

collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Cooperative Limited

(APDDCF Ltd.), the SHGs and their federations covering 2796 Village Milk

Procurement centres with 138800 milk producers and contributed 2.57 lakh litres

of milk per day in peak season and 0.80 lakh liters of milk per day in lean season

valued at Rs. 38.55 lakhs.

Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture (CMSA)

Community Managed Sustained Agriculture (CMSA) is a paradigm shift in

moving from input centric model to knowledge and skill based model. It involves

making best use of natural resources locally available and takes best advantage of

19
Community Managed Sustainable Income and Collective Marketing, Government of Andhra
Pradesh, 2009-10.
110
the natural processes. The main objective of CMSA is to reduce the cost of

cultivation and to bring sustainability to agricultural based livelihoods, with

special focus on small and marginal farmers, tenants, agriculture labour and

women.

In Andhra Pradesh CMSA reached 3171 villages in 240 mandals of 18

districts. It covered 9.32 lakh acres in Kharif and 3.92 lakh acres in Rabi, thus

totaling to 13.24 lakh acres by benefiting 3.18 lakh farmers. Under NREGS, NPM

convergence 10349 compost pits were dug for effective composting and timely

supply of compost, 1197 farm ponds were dug to conserve water recharge ground

water and 4815 vermi compost units were constructed. Under CMSA 154

resource villages were developed and 743 seed banks were established to bring

seed sovereignty to farmers.

Due to implementation of NPM practices, the cost of cultivation was

drastically reduced. The range of savings varied from crop to crop ranging from

Rs. 2,500/- ha in case of Paddy, to Rs. 12500/- ha in case of Cotton and Rs.

37500/- has for Chillies. During last year total savings across the 18 district

reached to an estimated amount of Rs. 150.40 crores.

Collective Marketing

The collective marketing programme is to enable the Rural Poor to obtain

the best price for their forest produce and agricultural commodities the marketing

interventions of IKP has registered a significant increase in this financial year

with pick up in paddy procurement activity. The VOs have successfully

111
implemented village level collective marketing of Neem, Redgarm, Greegram,

Chillies, Paddy, Maize, Turmeric, Cashew and NTEP besides agricultural inputs

etc. Details of the marketing intervention of last four years and current year are

furnished in the following table20.

Table-3.14
An Overview of Collective Marketing
S. Indicator 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
No.
1 No. of MMS involved 502 710 533 1036 845.00
2 No. of VOs involved 1154 2010 783 2071 1662.00
3 No. of families covered 118497 257280 101790 300995 162584.00
4 No. of commodities 57 81 81 79 65.00
handled
5 Volume (lakh quintals) 1.8 24.94 20.65 47.11 58.78
6 Turnover (Rs. Crores) 16 141.9 126.8 320.15 491.61
Source: Abhaya Hastam Scheme under Indira Kranthi Patham, A Progress Report, 2011.

Abhaya Hastam (Indira Kranthi Patham Pension and Insurance scheme for

SHG Women). Government of Andhra Pradesh has undertaken comprehensive

eradication of poverty, in rural and urban areas through the Indira Kranthi Patham,

a Programme for empowerment of women, through formation, development and

strengthening of women SHGs and their federations, covering one crore twenty

five lakh women in the state during the last 3 years. Government is also

implementing National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to secure

guaranteed wage employment to the rural poor. As a result of these measures, a

large number of women and their families in rural and urban areas are enjoying

stable livelihoods, increased incomes and better quality of life. While economic

growth at household level is an important pre-condition for expanding the scope

20
Abhaya Hastam Scheme under Indira Kranthi Patham, A Progress Report, 2009.
112
of special social securing policies, the Government regards social security as one

of the important factors in improving quality of life through and elimination of

poverty. The need for income security in their old age, when their ability to earn

from their physical labour would have reduced considerably has been voiced by

SHG members in various meetings they had with the Chief Minister of Andhra

Pradesh and Abhaya Hastam is the concept developed through such meetings.

Abhaya Hastam is a co-contributory pension scheme for the women, above

the age group of 18, belonging to the Self-Help Groups in Andhra Pradesh. The

scheme envisages contribution of Rs. 30 per month into her pension account. The

contributing of the member and co-contribution of the government is periodically

transferred to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), for investing diligently

for securing better returns on the investment. The corpus thus generated till the

age of 60 years, will be used for giving monthly pension amount to each women,

on crossing 60 years of age.

Abhaya Hastam offers 3 kinds of benefits to its members, namely 1)

Monthly pension on crossing 60 years of age; 2) Death and disability insurance

cover including scholarship to the children of the women, 3) Lump sum transfer

of corpus which is accumulated in her account is transferred to the nominee in the

event of her death.

The monthly pension amount payable to the women depends on the

number of years of contribution she makes till 60 years of age. In order to secure

reasonable level of monthly pension, government have decided to ensure that

113
every women shall receive Rs. 500/- or above pension every month, on crossing

60 years of age till her death. A women joining Abhaya Hastam at the age of 18

will be able to draw Rs. 2200/- per month pension on crossing 60 years of age.

This amount is likely to be much higher, should the level of monthly

contribution/co-contribution is stepped up after every 5 or 10 years.

Every woman who joins Abhaya Hastam will have a pass book to record

details of her contribution and she is entitled to receive an annual statement with

the particulars of her contribution and co-contribution from the government and

interest earned on the corpus. On crossing 60 years of age, the monthly pension is

adjusted to her bank account by LIC every month.

Abhaya Hastam offers many more benefits to the women in addition to

monthly pension on retirement. The other benefits are (a) death and disability

insurance cover in respect of women in the age group of 18 to 59. In the event of

her natural death, Rs.30,000/- is paid to the nominee. In the event of accidental

death, Rs. 75,000/- is paid to her. In case of partial disability Rs. 37500/- is paid to

her. (b) the member’s children studying 9th, 11th and 12 classes will receive a

scholarship of Rs. 1200/- per annum, (c) in the event of the death of the

subscriber, the available contribution of the subscriber and government’s co-

contribution along with accrued earnings on such contributions will be transferred

to the nominee of the subscribed.

Government of Andhra Pradesh have brought out a legislation; AP SHG

Women Co-contributory Pension Act 2009 which was passed by the AP State

114
Legislature and AP State Legislative Council. The state government has provided

the budget of Rs. 365 crore in the 2009-10 budget estimates towards state

government’s co-contribution. The scheme has already been launched at the state

head quarters and also in the districts by distributing cheques of Rs. 400/- towards

the monthly pension for the SHG women who joined the scheme and attained

retirement age. The enrolment of SHG women of all age groups into Abhya

Hastam scheme has also commenced.

It is expected that about 1 crore 25 lakh women are likely to join the

scheme. The Andhra Pradesh Government has thus earned the distinction of

rolling out the world’s largest co-contributory pension scheme for the poor in

unorganized sector21.

Andhra Pradesh Smart Card Project

In 2006, Rural Development Department of Andhra Pradesh started a pilot

initiative to make payments of Government benefits to the beneficiaries through

Smart Cards which are backed by bank accounts. The overall objectives of the

initiatives are:

i. To provide an operational frame work for increasing the outreach of main stream
banking and financial services to the poorest of the poor by using technology
based solution.
ii. To ensure efficient and timely transfer of government benefits of the poor.
iii. To minimize the possibility of fraudulent payments.
iv. To achieve total financial inclusion thorough Smart Cards.
v. To benefit the rural eligible poor.
21
Andhra Pradesh Smart Card Project – A Report, Ministry of Rural Development, Government
of Andhra Pradesh, 2010.
115
Approach

The approach is to create branchless banking infrastructure by establishing

a network of business correspondents in each village. Banks and Government will

work together to open accounts and issue smart cards to the poor. To begin with,

certain Government benefits like social security pensions and NREGS wage

payments will be delivered through this network. In the next stage, banks will

deliver main stream banking services like Savings, Deposits, Remittances, Loans,

etc. The endeavour is to establish a banking outpost in village to include unbanked

poor.

Architecture

Banks lay down the entire infrastructure, in order to achieve this, they

procure service providers through a process of competitive bidding, and service

providers typically extend two important services name.

i. Provide Technology (Technology Provider)

ii. Act as a “banking Correspondent on behalf of Bank by opening and

operating banking outposts in every Grampanchayat and delivering

financial services to people.

In Andhra Pradesh, the smart card project started with Rural Development

establishing a steering committee at the state level which consists of officials from

the State Government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Bankers. 8 Mandals

(Blocks) are selected for SSP and NREGS payments by issuing smart cards and

laying down EBT platform. 6 Banks namely, SBI, SBH, AB, UBI, APGVB and

116
Axis Bank participated in the pilot, project work. Payments under the pilot started

in May 2007 and are continuing till date. So far, 1.2 lakh beneficiaries are

enrolled and an amount of Rs. 24.40 crores is disbursed.

Critical Evaluation

Ever since 1980s there is a substantial improvement in literacy level of

rural women. The state government has introduced several educational institutions

like Bridge Open School, Kasturba Girls High Schools, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan,

Saksharata Mission and Adult Literacy Centres in rural areas which is turn created

socio economic awareness among the self-help groups about growing importance

of school education for sustainable development. With the growing number of

graduates, the unemployment has increased in the state. Lack of job opportunities

and failure of the government administration in creating jobs has become a serious

challenge, leading to several strikes and agitations by the unemployed graduates

in the state.

In the field of higher education, the government has achieved a remarkable

progress in establishing Junior, Degree and Professional colleges between 1980

and 2005 under private sector. The number of private Junior colleges in the state

has increased from 398 to 2449 and Degree colleges from 450 to 1157 during

2006-07. Due to vast growth of corporate colleges, the elite class children could

reap the benefits. However, the quality and results of government colleges in

many parts of the state is not encouraging.

117
Economy

The economy of the state is basically agrarian and percentage of irrigation

is below 40 percent. The plan allocation to irrigation by the state government is

gradually declining. Most of the projects undertaken by the state government are

not completed due to “interstate water disputes”. Though the state economy is

well endowed with natural resources and minerals but is still lagging behind when

compared with other states.

In the field of per-capita income economy, food production and rural

infrastructure, the state government is in a better position. Though there is an

increase of 20% in irrigation, the tank irrigation has declined from 10.88 hectares

in 1955.56 to 9 lakh hectares in 1980-81 and it remained to 7.47 hectares in 2000-

01. However, the bore well, open wells and dug wells irrigation increased

significantly which ultimately helping the farmers. It is noteworthy that

percentage of area under food crops is higher in Coastal areas when compared to

Rayalaseema and Telangana. However, the proportion of area under non-food

crops has been increasing over the years due to the changes in cropping pattern, as

a result of commercialization of agriculture. The development sector in Coastal

region has resulted in widening regional imbalances among the people of

Telangana and Rayalaseem regions.

Industrial Growth and Employment

Andhra Pradesh is lagging behind like many other states in the field of

industrial growth. The index growth of industrial production is self explanatory.

118
The employment growth of workers in different industries is stagnant during

1985-86 to 2000-01, the number of industrial workers increased from 823919 to

825827 which is only a marginal increase. It is a paradoxical truth that whenever

industrial growth is taking place in the state, it is without additional jobs. Public

investment in industrial sector decreased from 7.36 percent to 6.2 percent after the

post liberalization.

Power Tariff

Andhra Pradesh government has witnessed a significant change in the field

of power sector. The inflation capacity of power consumption pattern did not

make any progress in the field of agriculture. The power sector is undergoing

structural reforms which in turn increased tariff to all types of consumers

including the farmers since 1996-97. The farmers who depend on dug wells and

bore wells in Telangana and Rayalaseema, have been demanding for subsidized

power supply in view of increase of cost of production in agriculture due to

increased power tariff and charges. Added to this, village and small scale

industries also could not benefit due to liberalization policies and lack of

cooperation by power sector officials which are the major reasons for power crisis

in the state22.

Problems of Employment Generation

Employment generation programmes and food for work scheme for the

rural poor have been snatched away by the contractors, politicians and officials

22
Pattern of Rural Development – A Study of Andhra Pradesh, SEER Division Planning
Commission, Main Findings, New Delhi, 2010, pp.113-135.
119
denying employment to the poor village labourers. As a result, employment and

daily income of village labourers have declined. In recent times, state government

is witnessing continuous drought situation which is same even after 2007-08.

Most of the villages from backward Telangana region and Rayalaseema are

migrating to the big cities and industrial areas in search of livelihood. Drought

prone districts like Mahabubngar in Telangana, Ananthapur in Rayalaseema and

Vijayanagaram in Coastal Andhra region are still remain backward in respect of

income, employment and better living condition.

The liberalization affect on the artisans, households is also devastating in

nature. The small units hitherto surviving on a bare minimum have become

vulnerable due to competition from multinational products. Occupations like

weaving, tailoring, poultry, carpentry, pottery are in deep crisis. The suicide death

of handloom weavers has become a common feature in Telangana districts.

Weaving is an important employment generation to village economy in this

region. But the state government has totally failed to create support price to the

weavers as such they are suffering without marketing facility.

The situation in Andhra Pradesh reveals that real development and income

is improved at the grassroots level. But due to lopsided developmental strategies

pursued from time to time, balanced development of the state has become

causality and regional imbalances went on widening. These imbalances have

become stumbling block for the emotional integration of the people of all the

three regions of the state.

120
 The state government has borrowed about Rs. 57000 crores from internal

and external sources but no irrigation projects were so far completed. The policies

of liberalization, privatization has been dispensing the rural masses from their

opportunities. The benefits and subsidy meant for backward class and the weaker

sections of the society (SC & STs) have been reduced year after the year and

created serious financial crisis to the poor farmers. As such the village economy is

facing economic and social crisis. The growth rate of agriculture is recorded as

2.47 percent which is below the all India level. It is significantly lower than

proposed and much published in vision 2020 document of the state government.

Agriculture growth rates have gone down drastically and employment situation in

rural areas has not improved rather worsened.

Greater Migration of Rural Labour

There is an exodus of young rural labourers of backward and drought

affected districts to towns and cities in search of livelihood. Rural labourers from

Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram districts are migrating to Vishakhapatnam and

Vijayawada while the Chittoor and Ananthapur labour migrate to Bangalore and

Chennai. The labour from Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Ranga Reddy and Medak

would migrate to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, while old aged people

keep staying in the villages.

The critics are of the opinion that the highly publicized DWCRA, the Self-

Help Groups Scheme could not provide work to the rural women as expected. As

far as the employment and income generating activity is concerned, very little is

121
achieved. Whenever the products are produced by DWCRA groups, they are

decorative and artistic and unable to compete with global multinational products.

The experience reveals that, DWCRA Self-Help Groups have become a vote bank

for few political wings. As a whole, the state is lagging behind in respect of

industrial development. There is no industrial activity worth mentioning except

rice mills, flour mills, oil mills and village artisan units. The Agro based units are

closed due to problem in agriculture sector. The status of village artisans is further

demoralizing year after year23.

Summing Up

It is a paradoxical truth that the process of liberalization, privatization and

globalization, could not benefit the rural poor. In other words, the global market is

making inroads in remote corners of Andhra Pradesh and badly affecting rural

employment, income generation and consumption pattern. In the post

liberalization scenario, there is a need to review the policies of state government

with regard to utilization of cultivable land, river water and improving

institutional finance to development rural infrastructure in the state.

Andhra Pradesh is lagging behind in respect of agriculture, human

development and industrial sectors. Non agriculture sector also could not develop

due to lack of agriculture development. Hence, poverty, unemployment, hunger

and suicidal deaths have become common in backward Telangana region. As such

23
Problems of Employment and Greater Migration of Labour in Andhra Pradesh, the Times of
India, June 28, 2010.
122
unrest, agitation and regional imbalances provoked the people of Telangana to

agitate for the cause of separate Telangana state.

In spite of several bottlenecks, developmental departments and the district

administration in Andhra Pradesh have played a significant role in achieving the

goals of rural development, under public policy. Until and unless the rural

infrastructure is decentralized with active people participation, it is not possible to

achieve socio-economic development of backward villages in Andhra Pradesh.

123