The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment provided an update on the implementation progress of the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) scheme through a written reply in Rajya Sabha. Minister of State Shri Ramdas Athawale shared details with Shri Anil Kumar Yadav Mandadi regarding the scheme's Adarsh Gram Component, which aims to promote socio-economic development of Scheduled Caste communities through integrated village development.
The scheme ensures saturation of 50 monitorable socio-economic indicators across 10 sectors, including education, through convergence of Central and State Government schemes and addressing critical development gaps. A need assessment survey establishes baseline status of these indicators, with progress regularly updated on the PMAGY Portal.
Nationwide implementation data shows 47,328 villages have been selected under the scheme, with 3,28,131 development works identified and 1,10,51,213 beneficiaries targeted. Of these, 46,642 development works have been completed, benefiting 47,59,399 beneficiaries to date. Specifically for Telangana, 435 villages have been selected, and within the education sector, 3,529 beneficiaries have been identified with 472 already receiving benefits under the scheme.
Regarding monitoring and verification, States and Union Territories have been directed to verify the self-declaration of Adarsh Gram under the PM-AJAY Adarsh Gram Component, addressing the query about third-party audit mechanisms.