1,500 new villages to benefit under Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana

New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) As many as 1,500 Scheduled Caste majority villages across 10 states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in the north and Assam, West Bengal and Jharkhand in eastern India, will be now benefit from the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAGY), Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawarchand Gehlot said on Wednesday.

Other new states which would get the benefits are: Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Gehlot made these observations while reviewing the implementation progress of the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) in the central advisory committee meeting here on Wednesday, an official release said.

The minister said at the initial phase the success of the scheme in the 1,000 pilot villages include: Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Gehlot said that so far, Rs 201 crore has been released to the five pilot states (Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu) and Rs 228.97 crore in the extended phase, the release said.

Launched in 2009-10, the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) is a centrally sponsored scheme which is implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for integrated development of Scheduled Caste majority villages having Scheduled Caste population of more than 50 per cent.

In the northern region, Uttar Pradesh, having the maximum number of SC majority villages, "did not concur" to accept the scheme in the first phase and so Himachal Pradesh was selected for the implementation of the scheme, an official source said here.