New Delhi [India], December 11 (ANI): Since, 2018-19, 29,851 villages have been selected annd 36,896 works have been undertaken covering 41,29,228 beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY), said Union Minister of State for social justice and empowerment Ramdas Athawale in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

He said that in 2021-22 the erstwhile scheme of Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) has been subsumed under the umbrella Scheme Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY).

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The minister said that the villages having more than 40% SC population and a total population of 500 or more are eligible for selection under the Scheme.

The selected villages are saturated with identified 50 Socio-Economic developmental indicators under 10 domains namely drinking water and sanitation, education, health and nutrition, social security, rural roads and housing, electricity and clean fuel, agricultural practices, financial inclusion, digitization, livelihood and skill development, which are the minimum requirements for any person residing in a village.

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Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhuyday Yojana (PM-AJAY) is a merged scheme of the three Centrally Sponsored Schemes, namely Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY), Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCA to SCSP) and Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana(BJRCY), said Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in a press release.

The scheme has been implemented since 2021-22 with the aim of reducing poverty in the SC communities through the generation of additional employment opportunities through skill development, income-generating schemes and other initiatives, and to improve socio-economic developmental indicators by ensuring adequate infrastructure and requisite services in the SC-dominated villages.

Broadly, the scheme has the following three components:Development of SC-dominated villages in to an "AdarshGram";'Grants-in-aid' for District/State-level Projects for socio-economic betterment of SCs that may include creation of infrastructure in SC dominated villages including thoses elected under Adarsh Gram component, construction of Hostels/Residential schools, Comprehensive Livelihood Projects which may include components such as Skill development, related infrastructure development, financial assistance towards loans taken by beneficiaries for acquisition/creation of assets required for livelihood generation etc.

Construction of Hostels in higher educational institutions which aretop-ranked as per the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of Government of India and are funded by the Centre/State/UT Governments either fully or partially. Similarly, construction of hostels in schools which are either fully or partially funded by the Centre/State/UT Governments and recommended by the Ministry of Education. (ANI)

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