Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) — Meghalaya

What is Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana in Meghalaya?

Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) is a Government of India village development scheme aimed at Scheduled Caste majority villages, implemented in Meghalaya by the Community and Rural Development Department (C&RD), Government of Meghalaya.

According to the C&RD Department's scheme page, PMAGY targets "integrated development of the selected villages with more than 50% SC population", so that the settlement gains the infrastructure and services it lacks and the gap between Scheduled Caste and non-Scheduled Caste residents in socio-economic outcomes closes.

The scheme works on two levers. The first is convergence: every need the village has is first mapped to an existing central or state scheme that already funds that kind of work, a housing scheme for houses, a rural roads programme for connectivity, a water mission for drinking water, a livelihoods mission for income. The second is gap-filling funds: a limited pool released to the village for the residual needs that no running scheme can meet.

Meghalaya is a Scheduled Tribe majority state, so the number of villages meeting the "more than 50 per cent SC population" test is small. The C&RD Department lists four villages selected in Meghalaya under Phase II:

Who is covered by PMAGY in Meghalaya, and who cannot apply?

PMAGY covers:

• Villages with more than 50 per cent Scheduled Caste population, identified from Census population data at the central level and notified phase by phase.
• Every resident of a selected village. Once a village is taken up, the whole settlement is the unit of development. Roads, water supply, drainage, school buildings, anganwadi centres and street lighting created under the scheme serve Scheduled Caste and non-Scheduled Caste households alike.
• Scheduled Caste households in particular, in the sense that the monitorable indicators the scheme tracks; literacy, immunisation, sanitation access, drinking water access, housing, financial inclusion, are measured to test whether SC residents have reached parity with the rest of the village.

You cannot apply, and are not eligible, if you are looking for a personal benefit:

• Individuals cannot apply. PMAGY has no application form, no online registration and no beneficiary list. Nobody is authorised to charge a fee for "adding a name" to PMAGY.
• PMAGY makes no cash transfer to households. There is no monthly amount and no lump sum credited to a bank account under this scheme.
• A village cannot nominate itself. Selection follows the SC population criterion and phase-wise central decisions, not local application.
• Villages below the 50 per cent SC population threshold are not eligible, however great their need. Such villages must be served by the ordinary schemes, or, where the population is Scheduled Tribe majority, by the Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana.
• Being a Scheduled Caste person outside a selected village does not qualify you for anything under PMAGY. The scheme is village-based, not person-based.

How does a village get taken up under PMAGY?

There is no citizen application route, so the honest description of the process is administrative rather than a form to fill:

1. Census-based identification. Villages crossing the 50 per cent Scheduled Caste population threshold are identified from Census data and notified for a PMAGY phase. Meghalaya's four Phase II villages: Kalatek, Kalibari, Daspara and Milanpur, came through this route.
2. Baseline survey of the selected village. Once notified, a socio-economic baseline survey records what the village has and what it lacks against the scheme's monitorable indicators.
3. Preparation of the Village Development Plan. The C&RD Block office, with the village institution, in Meghalaya usually the Dorbar Shnong or the Village Council: draws up a written plan listing each work, the department responsible, the scheme that will fund it and the expected timeline.
4. Convergence approval and gap-filling sanction. Line departments confirm which VDP items their own schemes will cover; the remainder is put up for gap-filling funds.
5. Execution and monitoring. Works are executed by the department that owns the parent scheme, with progress reviewed at Block and district level against the baseline indicators.

A village that believes it meets the population criterion but has not been notified should take that up in writing with the Block Development Officer and the District Rural Development Agency, attaching the village's Census position. That is the only meaningful representation route.

What kinds of works does PMAGY fund?

PMAGY is deliberately open-ended about the works, because the plan is built from the gaps a particular village shows in its baseline survey. In practice the recurring categories are:

• Drinking water — piped supply, hand pumps, spring protection and storage.
• Sanitation; household toilets, drainage, and solid and liquid waste management.
• Internal roads and connectivity; village lanes, culverts, approach roads.
• Education; school building repair, additional classrooms, furniture, anganwadi centres.
• Health and nutrition; sub-centre facilities, immunisation coverage, supplementary nutrition delivery.
• Housing and electrification, pucca houses and household electricity connections under the relevant parent schemes.
• Livelihoods and financial inclusion; self-help group formation, skilling, and bank account and credit linkage.
• Community assets; community halls, playgrounds and common facilities.

Because most of these are delivered through parent schemes, a resident of a PMAGY village who wants a house or a toilet still has to satisfy that scheme's own eligibility rules. PMAGY improves the odds that the village is prioritised; it does not create a new personal entitlement.

How can I check progress in a PMAGY village in Meghalaya?

1. Ask the C&RD Block office for the Village Development Plan. The VDP is the document that lists each sanctioned work and the department accountable for it.
2. Check the baseline indicators. Ask what the village's recorded position was on drinking water, sanitation, literacy and immunisation, and what the current reading is.
3. Follow the parent scheme for a stalled work. If a water supply item has not moved, the question goes to the water department, not to PMAGY, because the sanction and the money sit there.
4. Use the village institution. A written Dorbar Shnong or Village Council resolution recording a listed but unstarted work carries more weight at Block level than an individual complaint.

Common misunderstandings about PMAGY

• "PMAGY gives Scheduled Caste families cash." It does not. There is no personal payment under this scheme.
• "You can register online for PMAGY." There is no citizen registration.
• "PMAGY only helps SC families in the village." The works are village assets; the SC-focused element is the parity target, not exclusive access.
• "A village can apply to be selected." Selection follows Census SC population share and central phase decisions.
• "PMAGY replaces other schemes." It sits on top of them, coordinating them and filling only what they cannot fund.

Where to raise a PMAGY grievance in Meghalaya

• Block level: the Block Development Officer of the C&RD Block covering the village.
• District level: the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) for East Khasi Hills, West Garo Hills or South West Garo Hills as applicable.
• State level: the Directorate of Community and Rural Development, Government of Meghalaya, whose contacts are published at megcnrd.gov.in.
• Parent scheme route: for a specific house, toilet, road or water connection, complain under that scheme's own grievance mechanism.

PMAGY involves no fee, no form and no registration for any citizen. If someone asks for money to include a household or a village in the scheme, that is a fraud and should be reported to the Block Development Officer in writing.