ABSTRACT
India, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, is still largely a rural country. Rural development depends on some of the following fundamental aspects—health, education, drinking water, housing, employment and infrastructure development. This chapter discusses three schemes related to employment, namely Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) and Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY). EAS and JGSY are two schemes meant for generating employment, particularly for the SC BPL households. The purpose of these schemes is to generate employment through building assets for the village as a whole. Though under the EAS, there is some amount of grant that serves the purpose in a limited way, the amount earmarked under the JGSY is so meagre that this scheme is simply ineffective. The house construction scheme for BPL households in the rural areas under IAY and PMGY was one of the most successful schemes of the Ministry.
