The Narendra Modi government has moved the Ministry of Rural Development from ‘Economic/ Commerce cluster to the Social Sector cluster’ and Food Processing from the social sector to infrastructure.
It is not clear what has prompted the government to make the shift and what could be its implications. The move has come at a time when the government is facing criticism from several quarters for systematically downsizing the Ministry by cutting funds under various programmes and schemes conceived by it.
The Ministries and departments in the Government of India are bracketed under one of the four clusters — Social, Economic, Infrastructure and Regulatory.
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A memorandum by the department on the re-allocation of the cluster of Rural Development and Food Processing merely brought it to the notice of various wings of the government without elaboration.
In the second week of July, the Rural Development Ministry held a two-day meeting to review the schemes it executes and monitors. It is the Nodal Ministry for the ‘development and welfare’ activities in rural areas to ensure a ‘sustainable and inclusive growth’.
With a budgetary outlay of Rs. 86,000 crore, the Ministry runs major programmes, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for wage employment, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission for self-employment and skill development, the Indira Awaas Yojana for providing housing to BPL households, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for construction of quality roads and the National Social Assistance Programme for social pension.
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