Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana 2017 (Arunachal Pradesh)

What is Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana 2017?

Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana 2017, often written locally as CMAGY or simply "Adarsh Gram", is a village development scheme of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. According to the notification issued by the Finance Department on 16 June 2017 (File No. FIN/E-III/21/2017), the objective is to develop 60 model villages in Arunachal Pradesh equipped with all basic amenities to 24x7 piped drinking water, electricity at household level, a primary school, primary health infrastructure, internal roads, avenues of employment generation, and open defecation free status.

Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana was approved by the state cabinet headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu on 9 June 2017, which decided that one village in each Assembly constituency would be transformed into a model village. The scheme is administered on the ground by the rural development machinery: the Block Development Office is the nodal implementing agency, and the District Committee routes its village selection to the Department of Planning and Finance through the Secretary, Rural Development.

Key features from the notification

• A total of 60 model villages, one per Legislative Assembly Constituency, to be developed initially within a period of two years.
• A total outlay of Rs 1.5 crore per village.
• Selection by a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner, with Heads of Offices of the district and the concerned MLA.
• The Block Development Office is the nodal implementing agency.
• The scheme is not contractor driven, unskilled work is done by villagers aged 18 and above, at MGNREGA wage rates.
• All accounts and records relating to the scheme are open to public scrutiny.
• Convergence with other Centrally Sponsored and State Plan schemes, including MLALAD, is expected.

Who is eligible under Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana?

Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana is a village-level scheme, not a personal benefit scheme. This is the single most misunderstood point about it.

Who benefits:

• Villages in Arunachal Pradesh selected by the District Committee, one per Legislative Assembly Constituency, and every household living in that village.
• BPL families in the selected village who are not already beneficiaries of PMAY or IAY. The permissible works list allows pucca houses only for such families.
• Villagers aged 18 years and above who are willing to work on unskilled components, who earn MGNREGA-rate wages recorded on muster rolls.

Who cannot apply:

• Individuals cannot apply. There is no citizen application form, no online registration and no cash transfer to a personal bank account under CMAGY.
• Contractors are not eligible to bid for the general body of works. The notification states the programme is not meant to be contractor driven. Only specialised work, for example electrical work, may be given to local third-party firms or executed by line departments as deposit work.
• Villages not selected by the District Committee for the concerned Assembly Constituency are not eligible in that round.
• A BPL family that has already received a house under PMAY or IAY is not eligible for a pucca house under CMAGY.

What works are permitted under CMAGY?

The 2017 notification lists ten permissible works:

How to apply for Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana

There is no individual application. The route is institutional, and a village that wants to be considered has to work through the Gram Sabha and the Block Development Office. These are the real steps set out in the notification:

1. Get the District Committee formed and the village selected. The Deputy Commissioner heads the District Committee, with all Heads of Offices of the district and the local MLA as members. This committee identifies and selects the beneficiary village and intimates the Department of Planning and Finance through the Secretary, Rural Development.
2. Complete the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercise. The Block Development Office, along with the Panchayati Raj Institutions, prepares a social map showing households, schools, anganwadi centres, PHCs and sub-centres, and a resource map showing rivers, farmlands, plantations and minor irrigation channels.
3. Prepare and pass the shelf of works in the Gram Sabha. Based on the gaps identified in the PRA, a shelf of works is drawn from the permissible list and passed by the Gram Sabha. The minutes of the Gram Sabha, together with the proposed shelf of works, go to the Block Development Office.
4. Get estimates approved. The Block Development Office prepares estimates using the Arunachal Pradesh Schedule of Rates and Analysis of Rates, obtains technical sanction and administrative approval, and submits them to the District Committee.
5. Execute the work in three phases. The District Committee releases 33.33 per cent (about Rs 50 lakh) for Phase 1, another 33.33 per cent after the Phase 1 Utilisation Certificate, and the final 33.33 per cent after 66.66 per cent UCs for Phases 1 and 2.
6. Submit the Project Completion Report with photographs of work initiation and completion.

How is the Rs 1.5 crore released and monitored?

Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana money does not move in one lump. The Deputy Commissioner operates a dedicated current account for the scheme, and the Block Development Office opens its own dedicated current account, jointly operated by the BDO and the EO (RE).

Fund flow is strictly tranche-based:

• Phase 1 to 33.33 per cent, about Rs 50 lakh, released on submission of approved estimates.
• Phase 2; another 33.33 per cent, about Rs 50 lakh, released on submission of the Phase 1 Utilisation Certificate.
• Phase 3 — the final 33.33 per cent, about Rs 50 lakh, released on submission of 66.66 per cent UCs for Phases 1 and 2.

The allocated budget is meant purely for project activities and cannot be diverted to administrative expenses. Monitoring and audit are done by an agency identified by the District Committee, and Deputy Commissioners send quarterly progress reports with photographs to the Department of Planning, Finance and Investment. Measurement of work is recorded daily in Measurement Books maintained by the EO (RE).

What is the CMAGY timeline?

The notification splits the two-year period into three blocks of six months:

• First 6 months: form the District Committee, select the villages, run the PRA exercise, pass the shelf of works in the Gram Sabha, and obtain technical and administrative approvals so that Phase 1 funds can be released.
• Next 6 months; commence work at site and submit the Phase 1 Utilisation Certificate so Phase 2 funds are released.
• Final 6 months, submit the Phase 2 UC, complete works at site, and submit the Project Completion Report to the District Committee.

Arunachal Pradesh district portals list the scheme with a date range of 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2022. Villages such as Loiliang in Lohit district and Kombo Tarsu near Aalo have been publicly reported as CMAGY model villages.

Why do CMAGY works get stuck?

Based on the conditions written into the notification, the usual choke points are procedural rather than personal:

• Utilisation Certificate not submitted. The next tranche of Rs 50 lakh simply cannot be released without it.
• Technical or administrative approval pending on the estimates, which stops Phase 1 release.
• Gram Sabha resolution missing or incomplete, so the shelf of works has no standing.
• Works proposed outside the permissible list of ten items.
• Muster rolls not maintained at site for MGNREGA-dovetailed activities.
• Quarterly progress report with photographs not sent by the Deputy Commissioner to the Department of Planning, Finance and Investment.

Where do you raise a CMAGY grievance?

Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana has no dedicated helpline. Because all accounts and records under the scheme are explicitly open to public scrutiny, a villager who suspects that money was diverted, that muster rolls were falsified, or that a contractor was engaged in place of village labour can:

• Ask the Block Development Office to produce the muster rolls, Measurement Books and estimates for inspection.
• Raise the matter in the Gram Sabha, which approved the shelf of works.
• Write to the Deputy Commissioner, who chairs the District Committee and operates the scheme account.
• Escalate to the Department of Planning, Finance and Investment, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, Civil Secretariat, Itanagar, which receives the quarterly progress reports.

No fee is payable to any person to have a village considered under Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana. Selection rests entirely with the District Committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner.

How to check your village's CMAGY status

Chief Minister's Adarsh Gram Yojana has no individual application, so there is no personal account or portal login to check. What can be tracked is the progress of the selected village itself, phase by phase, and this has to be done through the same institutional chain that runs the scheme.

• Ask the Gram Sabha or village Panchayat members first. Since the shelf of works was passed in the Gram Sabha, the Panchayat leadership (Gaon Bura, Panchayat President, or ward members) is normally the first point of contact for which phase has been released and what work is currently underway.
• Visit or write to the Block Development Office (BDO). The BDO holds the estimates, technical sanction papers, Measurement Books and muster rolls for the village, and can confirm whether Phase 1, 2 or 3 funds have been released and whether the corresponding Utilisation Certificate has gone in.
• Approach the Deputy Commissioner's office. The DC chairs the District Committee that approves village selection and fund release, and operates the scheme's dedicated current account, so the DC office can confirm the overall status of a village's CMAGY allocation against the district's list of 60 model villages.
• Check the district administration's scheme page. Several Arunachal Pradesh district portals (for example the Shi-Yomi district site) list CMAGY along with the scheme period and basic details; some districts also name the specific villages selected for their constituencies.
• Use the quarterly progress reports as a benchmark. The Deputy Commissioner is required to send quarterly progress reports with photographs to the Department of Planning, Finance and Investment. A resident or Panchayat member can ask the DC office or BDO for a copy of the latest report to see which works are recorded as complete, ongoing, or pending.
• File an RTI application if information is refused. Because all accounts and records under CMAGY are explicitly meant to be open to public scrutiny, a Right to Information request to the Block Development Office or the Deputy Commissioner's office is a valid route if verbal or written enquiries do not get a response.

There is no SMS alert, helpline number, or online tracker specific to CMAGY. Status information exists only as physical records (estimates, Measurement Books, muster rolls, Utilisation Certificates and progress reports) held by the BDO and the Deputy Commissioner's office, so following up in person or in writing through these offices is the only real way to know where a village's Rs 1.5 crore allocation stands.