Previous Year Question
“Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana” aims at—
Meeting rural needs like primary education, health care, drinking water, housing, rural roads.
Alleviating poverty through micro enterprises.
Generating employment in rural areas.
Strengthening Panchayati Raj system in rural areas.
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
The Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY) was introduced in 2000-01. Its broader objective was village-level development and improvement in the quality of life of people living in rural areas.
The Scheme initially placed special emphasis on five critical rural areas—
Health → Primary Education → Drinking Water → Housing → Rural Roads
The Government of India's Economic Survey 2001-02 explicitly recorded these five sectors as the critical areas of PMGY.
Under PMGY, Additional Central Assistance (ACA) was provided to States and Union Territories so that additional resources could be directed towards basic minimum services and village-level human development.
The structure of the Scheme also changed over time. From 2001-02, the Rural Roads component was transferred to the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), while components such as nutrition and rural electrification were also brought within the PMGY framework. Therefore, Government documents from different years show some changes in the list of its components.
PMGY was a broader village-level basic-services programme, whereas PMGSY was primarily designed to provide all-weather road connectivity to rural habitations.