198
facilities in education, health and drinking water supply (NABARD
Annual
Report
, 2011-12, p.39). Cumulative Economic and social benefits generated as
on 31 March 2012 is presented in Table 6.12.
Table 6.12: Cumulative Economic and social benefits
(As on March 31, 2012)
Sl.
No.
Particulars
Additional Benefits
1 Irrigation potential (lakh ha.)
204.07
2 Rural Roads (kms.)
354344
3 Rural Bridges (mts.)
796899
4 Rural Market Yards/Godowns (MTs)
325270
5 Gross Domestic Product (
`
Crore)
24580
6 Recurring Employment (No. of jobs)
Non Recurring Employment
A. Irrigation (lakh mandays)
B. Rural Road and Rural Bridges(lakh mandays)
C. Others (lakh mandays)
8543283
30097.76
41098.51
24228.44
7 Power Sector
A. Hydel Power Generation (MW)
B. System Improvements to minimise
T & D Losses (lakh units/year)
212.83
23215
8 Social Sector (People/Students benefited)
A. Health Centres (lakh)
B. Primary & Secondary Schools (lakh)
C. Rural Drinking Water Supply (lakh)
615.83
100.06
1250.60
Source:
NABARD’s
Annual Report 2011-12.
p.39
Some evaluation studies have even revealed the ultimate benefits derived
in the form of increased absorption of ground-level credit ranging from 35% to
55% in some districts and from 17% to 18% in some other districts (NABARD
2010, p.72).
RIDF – An Assessment
It is tobe recognised thatRIDF isemergingasamajorparallel development
programme – parallel to the five-year plan programmes undertaken at the
states level for rural infrastructure as per the Planning Commission’s blue-
prints. The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) Vol.I has claimed that “out
of the total projected investment of
`
1,436,559 crore to be incurred by the
Centre and States in the Eleventh Plan,
`
435,349 crore (or 30.3%) would be
spent exclusively towards improvement of rural infrastructure” (p.259). This
works out to an average plan investment of
`
87,070 and the RIDF’s possible
