Government Versus Private Sector-Led Smart Village Development Policies and Programs in India

Abstract

In recent years, India has made innovative attempts to develop villages. Two of the latest are the government-run programs, Provision for Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA), and Member of Parliament Model Village Plan (MPMVP). PURA aims for injecting urban amenities and job opportunities in villages. The MPMVP intends to improve the wellbeing of selected gram panchayats (model villages) through a bundle of coordinated programs. Side by side, private sectors have run a very successful smart village development programs in Gujarat, Bihar, and Puducherry. This paper reviews both the government and private sector-led smart village development policies and draws lessons for the future. This research found that the private-led smart village programs were more effective than the government-run PURA and MPMVP. The reason is that the private sectors earn goodwill and trust by addressing critical village needs, and through that goodwill, they expand their social contribution to the entire village. Whereas, the top-down government-run smart-village programs claim big but deliver little due to shifts in political mindset, lack of earmarked funding, and weak local-implementation capacity.