As per Census 2011, 68% of India’s population resides in rural areas. Therefore, the development of rural India must be one of the top-most priorities of any government that comes into power. Modi government has completed four years in power. Therefore, it seems requisite to assess the impact of its schemes in this sector.

When someone talks about Modi government schemes, Ujjwala, Jan Dhan and Swachh Bharat are the most prominent schemes that come instantly in people’s minds. If we have close look at these schemes, they are largely aimed at rural beneficiaries:

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: More than 4.1 crore BPL LPG Connections have been provided. This is mainly aimed at betterment of lives of rural women.

Swachh Bharat (Gramin): More than 7 crore household toilets have been built. There are more than 3.75 lakh open-defecation free villages now.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: 18.65 crore (more than 58%) of new bank accounts have been opened in rural/semi-urban areas.

These flagship schemes have been designed to cater to the rural population. If we want to further look at the impact of rural development schemes specifically, we can easily divide them under four broad categories: