The UPA-2 report card released on Tuesday said that as part of the social welfare measures of the government, the focus was on rural housing, drinking water, roads and electricity besides supporting the crippling farm sector.
Around 71.8 lakh houses were constructed during the first phase against a target of 60 lakhs. Over 35,000 habitations have been connected with all weather roads and over 1,90,000 km existing rural roads have been upgraded/renewed since Bharat Nirman was launched. Around 28,672 habitations affected with chemical contamination have been provided safe drinking water.
In 2009-10, under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, against a target of 17500 un-electrified villages, 18374 villages have been electrified.
About 4.90 crore households have been provided employment through 40.98 lakh works with 251 crore person-days of employment being generated at a total expenditure of Rs 33,087 crores under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. UPA-2 in its “Report to the People” said that several amendments have been made in MGNREGA to ensure transparency regarding custody of job cards, disbursement of wages through banks and post offices, maintenance of records, pro-active disclosure of information and processes and procedures to be followed during social audits.
The government approved assistance amounting to Rs 4,806 crores from the National Calamity Contingency Fund to help mitigate the effects of the 2009 drought. Nutrient based subsidy policy for all fertilisers, other than urea, has also been introduced from April 1, 2010 to correct the imbalance in nutrient application and encourage efficient production of fertilisers, the report claims.
Rs 2,66,433 crores has been disbursed as credit in 2009-10. Farmers are receiving crop loans upto a principal amount of Rs 3 lakhs at 7 per cent rate of interest. Around Rs 3761.43 crores were released to states/UTs during 2009-10 under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. Production of fruits, vegetables and spices increased.