Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday told the BJP MPs to reach out to the people, especially disadvantaged sections of society, to highlight various government programs for their welfare, marking the party’s founding on April 6.
He then urged the parliamentarians to work on promoting awareness of the central government’s welfare schemes for housing, nutrition and free grains, among others, and suggested the MPs to visit aspirational districts and discuss ideas such as utilizing the MGNREGA funds to revive water bodies.
Over the years, the Modi government has launched various schemes and policies such as Digital India, Make in India, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana and Ayushman Bharat among many others.
The launching of such ambitious programs has been witnessed since the Nehruvian era but time and again, it has been observed that they fail in successful implementation and in reaching the beneficiaries. Mokokchung Times reached out to various sections of the people within Mokokchung district in order to understand the depth of awareness people have about the various schemes and how they have benefitted from them.
“I had no knowledge or idea about any schemes until recently when I heard about some people getting funds for housing and sanitation. However, I have no idea who receives it and why or from where,” said Pur, a resident of Tuli town.
Imrong, the Vice-Chairman of Yisemyong ad hoc town committee, said that the schemes such as ‘Ayushman Bharat’ have benefitted some in their division but other schemes such as ‘Housing for all’ have not reached their urban block yet.
A villager from Longsa village, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that various schemes have reached the village level but are handled only by the Village Development Board (VDB) and that, unfortunately, most of the beneficiaries are only those who are related with people in authority.
Speaking about the lack of awareness among the villagers, he said, citizens are not aware due to lack of proper guidelines. “Even if we get to hear about the schemes, we do not know which office to go to and how to proceed,” he added.
Tali of Longkong Village shared that they get to know about various schemes in the village from the VDB and added that the VDB announces various schemes and organizes various social works with the funding received from the scheme. “The VDB has also distributed various benefits among the villagers,” he added.
There were many among the people who shared their grievances that they have no idea how the beneficiaries are selected and on what basis.
“It would be nice if the authorities can help us know why only some households are selected for the benefits. It doesn’t make sense why it’s mostly the well-off families with some connection in one way or the other that gets the benefit. I just hope the authorities share the criteria on which it is selected and rejected,” shared Ajungla of Kichutip ward.
“Except for the Ayushman scheme, we have not received any until recently because we have just completed the scheme for Labor and Unemployment,” said Meren from Mangkolemba.
On further communication, it has been observed that awareness among the masses about various schemes is almost non-existent and the ‘inability to read to know’ was the biggest challenge, especially in rural areas. This further led to the lack of active participation from the people in availing the benefits of the schemes.
“I have made the Ayushman Bharat card; other than that, I keep hearing about various other schemes such as the 12,000 rupees that was sent for sanitation here and there but I never got to know about it and have no idea how to even pursue such,” shared Arenla of Sungkomen Ward.
The citizens, mostly in rural areas, were not aware about the details of India’s largest flagship program, MGNREGS. It is apparent from here that the government is failing to create an atmosphere where people know what the government is doing for them.
Although the government lays out ambitious projects on paper and makes big announcements, the results are below expectations when it comes to the ground reality. Plausible causes of this inadequacy may be attributed to improper monitoring, lack of accountability, corruption and misalignment of incentives.
It is observed that there is an urgent need for better coordination among private entities, community, civil society, NGOs and the government while formulating government schemes. Focus may be given on improving transparency to augment quality and effective implementation of schemes.