Evaluation of major centrally sponsored development schemes in the border areas of Punjab

Abstract

Punjab has a 553 kilometer long international border with Pakistan. At the time of partition, the three border districts (now four) of the undivided Punjab, namely Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar were the most prosperous as they enjoyed better soil fertility and irrigation facilities. However, with the passage of time, these districts have lagged behind in development due to their proximity to the border and particularly the long spell of cross border terrorism. Farmers living in the border areas face acute hardships as they cannot cultivate tall crops which can ensure them better remuneration. Moreover, the farmers of the border belt are handicapped to accord proper attention to their crops due to lot of restrictions on their movement. Rivers Ravi and Sutlej are passing through the border districts of Gurdaspur and Ferozepur respectively and often wash away the crops of these areas during the rainy seasons by way of flooding. In addition, there are a number of choes/ distributaries of these rivers, which also cause damage to the crops of this area. Punjab has a special place in India due to its geographical conditions. The total border area of the state is 6369.82 Sq. kms (approx). The total population of the four border districts as per 2011 census is 7936818. For the purpose three schemes namely; Border Area Development Programme (BADP) , Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) and Pardhan Mantri Gram Sark Yojana (PMGSY) have been selected for the evaluation in border areas of Punjab. Present study was undertaken with the main objective to examine the impact of centrally sponsored development schemes in the border area of Punjab. To evaluate the impact of different activities implemented /being implemented under major development schemes .To assess the availability of funds and existing status of development infrastructure, problems of its maintenance and the level of critical gap in the physical and social infrastructure requirement of the blocks for sustainable development.